


Height of the Deception

by PrincessSiya



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Astoria and Daphne are twins, Book 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, F/F, F/M, Gen, Indian Harry Potter, M/M, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Ron/Ginny/Molly Bashing in starting, there are two dark lords one is Albus Dumbledore and other is Voldemort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:15:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 92,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25568836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessSiya/pseuds/PrincessSiya
Summary: Before the third year begins, Harry finds out some truth about his life, and the people who are trying to control him. He finds some allies along the way. Soon after his life turns upside down. Power house Harry and Caring Draco.Harry/Draco & Neville/BlaiseAn au where Harry gets what he deserves the most, a family and where adults actually gets some shit done.
Relationships: Alice Longbottom/Frank Longbottom, Andromeda Black Tonks/Ted Tonks, Arthur Weasley/Molly Weasley, Astoria Greengrass/George Weasley, Aurora Greengrass/Albert Greengrass, Cho Chang/Cedric Diggory, Daphne Greengrass/Fred Weasley, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Ernie Macmillan/Parvati Patil, Fleur Delacour/Bill Weasley, Hannah Abbott/Anthony Goldstein, Hermione Granger/Theodore Nott, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Justin Finch-Fletchley/Padma Patil, Lavender Brown/Ron Weasley, Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy, Luna Lovegood/Rolf Scamander, Michael Corner/Ginny Weasley, Millicent Bulstrode/Gregory Goyle, Minerva McGonagall/Poppy Pomfrey, Neville Longbottom/Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson/Adrian Pucey, Percy Weasley/Oliver Wood, Regulus Black/Severus Snape, Seamus Finnigan/Dean Thomas, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Susan Bones/Terry Boot, Viktor Krum/Charlie Weasley, Vincent Crabbe/Tracey Davis
Comments: 47
Kudos: 240





	1. New Information

Harry could hardly believe it, when it all sank in.

He wasn’t expelled. He wasn’t even getting _punished_. He’d inflated Aunt Marge granted it was by accident and not intentional, and the Ministry wouldn’t even give him a slap on the wrist. But that wasn’t the best part.

There were still four weeks until school began, and he would be spending them in Diagon Alley. _Alone_. Unsupervised at least, as unsupervised as the thirteen-year-old saviour of the wizarding world could _get_ allowed to do whatever he pleased, as long as he stayed within the confines of the alley. No teachers keeping an eye on him ‘for his own safety’, no Dumbledore with his annoyingly knowing gaze, no Mrs Weasley herding him around like one of her own. Not even Ron and Hermione. He could go where he liked, and not have to explain his actions to anyone.

He’d never had such freedom before. Harry couldn’t wait to make the most of it.

Minister had informed him that he could do whatever he wanted as long as he was within the confines of Diagan Alley, so first he decided to take some gold out of his vaults to purchase a few necessary things. He needed parchments, quills, a few new books, clothes and such. Now that he could do his homework without hiding it, he could focus on his study more. So, he put his trunk and Hedwig in his room at Leaky Cauldron and went straight to Gringotts.

He entered the enormous white building with a bounce in his step, he was so thrilled that his entire body was thrumming with excitement. He steps inside the familiar building and one of the desks was open he stepped in front of the Goblin sitting there and greeted the goblin “May your enemies blood flow as your money grows. I would like to withdraw some money from my vault please. Uh, Harry Potter. The Potter vaults.” The Goblin looked up straight into Harry’s eyes for a few seconds and then replied, “May your gold flow and your riches multiply.”

“Vault Key?” The Goblin asked. Harry’s face fell into sudden despair, he didn’t have his key with him. Last time he saw his vault key was at the start of second year with Molly Weasley. He replied,” I don’t have my key with me. Is that a problem?”

“We can confirm your identity in other ways,” the goblin assured him. “But it requires your consent to a scan of your magic.” Harry hesitated for a second. A scan sounded fairly harmless. People probably did it all the time; surely, they didn’t carry their vault keys with them everywhere? “Okay, that sounds fine. I consent.”

The goblin nodded, then snapped his fingers and waved his hand towards Harry. His eyes narrowed behind his glasses, and he hummed, frowning. He snapped and waved a second time, frown growing deeper. Harry’s stomach churned. “Is there something wrong?”

“May I speak with you in private Mr. Potter? There is something that I need to inform you urgently.”

Instantly Harry thought that there something wrong with him, either he was not a wizard or his magic was gone or maybe he was not Harry Potter. Harry agreed to talk and followed the goblin into a corridor, where he was asked to step inside a small private room for meetings.

Goblin asked Harry to sit in the chair and wait for a moment and left to fetch some one else. While he was waiting, he couldn’t believe his luck, here he thought he would spend entire day shopping and wandering around in Diagan Alley and here he was waiting in the back of the bank for some kind of news.

The Goblin came back with another older looking Goblin. “This is Gorrak, Mr Potter. He’s one of our senior staff, and specialises in inheritance claims and family magic.”

Harry wondered if goblins shook hands. When none was offered to him, he merely nodded, twisting his fingers anxiously in the hem of his t-shirt. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Gorrak. Can I ask… what am I doing here?”

“Do you consent to a scan of your magic?” Gorrak asked, bypassing all pleasantries. Harry blinked. “Yes, I consent.” If the goblins were planning to hurt him, they probably wouldn’t ask consent first.

Gorrak raised his hands, and his fingertips glowed with a faint silver light as he ran them over the air a foot in front of Harry. If Harry concentrated, he could feel a sort of… tingle, faint on his skin, making the hair on his arms stand up. Gorrak lowered his arms, scowling. “Wizards.” He spat the word like a curse, sharing an unreadable look with his colleague. “Farlig, did Mr Potter have anyone with him when he spoke to you?”

“No, sir.” the other goblin, Farlig, replied promptly. “He was alone.” Harry asked them, “What is the matter? Is something wrong with my magic?” Gorrak asked Harry impatiently,” Mr. Potter, can you remember any time in which you have been recipient of any sort of long-term enchantment or ritual magic?”

Harry’s heart sank, ritual magic and long-term enchantment, he was raised by muggles for merlin’s sake how would he know? He answered stuttering,” No, not that I am aware of.” Gorrak answered looking lost in thoughts,” I figured as much. You see Mr. Potter there is a block placed on your family magics. The block is so deeply ingrained it is possible that it was placed when you were merely a baby. I would suggest you take the inheritance test which will show you all about you family magic, abilities, creature inheritance and mate status as well as potions and blockes placed on your persons. If you want, we will add the improper additions to your accounts such as funds that are being taken from your accounts without your knowledge or marriage contracts.”

Harry sat up straight and answered fiercely,” Yes I would like to take the inheritance test.” Gorrak looked at another goblin and said,” Farlig, please bring the inheritance parchment and knife.”

Farlig strode across the room in front of the desk and pulled a purple coloured parchment from its drawers. He gave it to Gorrak who held out the parchment in front of Harry and gave him the knife and said,” Just add three drops of blood on this parchment, it would suffice. Do not worry Mr. Potter all the results of this test are highly confidential.”

Harry pricked his first finger and dropped three drops of blood on the parchment and waited. After a while information begin to unravel and he was shell shocked with what he was seeing.

INHERITANCE TEST

Name: Harrison James Potter (Pure Blood)

Age: 13 years born July 31, 1990

Parents:

Father: James Fleamont Potter (Pure Blood)

Mother: Lilly Rose Potter (nee`Evans) (Pure blood)

Godparents:

Godfather: Sirius Orion Black (incapacitated)

Godmother: Alice Longbottom (incapacitated)

Magical Guardian:

Remus John Lupin-Black

Heir of Dukedom:

Archaic and Royal House of Gryffindor

Archaic and Royal House of Pendragon

Lordships:

Ancient and Most Noble House of Peverell

Ancient and Most Noble of House of Potter

Ancient and Most Noble House of Black

Inherited Traits:

Parseltonge

Elemental Magic

Natural Occlumency

Metamorphmagus

Family Magic:

Creature Inheritance of Phoenix (Blocked by Albus Dumbledore)

Creature’s Mate: Draconis Lucius Malfoy (Veela) (Blocked by Albus Dumbledore)

Family Elemental Alignment to Fire (Blocked by Albus Dumbledore)

Magical Spells/Potions:

Loyalty to Albus Dumbledore, Molly Weasley, Ronald Weasley, Ginerva Weasley (Cast by Albus Dumbledore)

Hatred/Mistrust of Slytherin House members, Severus Snape, Draco Malfoy, Dark Magic (Cast by Albus Dumbledore)

Reckless Potion (Administered by Albus Dumbledore)

Intelligence Blocked 75% (Cast by Albus Dumbledore)

Heroic Behaviour Booster (Cast by Albus Dumbledore)

Core Blocked 60% (Cast by Albus Dumbledore)

Magic Leech (Placed by Albus Dumbledore)

Silence Potion geared towards abuse at home (Cast by Albus Dumbledore)

Love Potions (Keyed Ginerva Weasley)

Indifference potion (Keyed Neville Longbottom)

Indifference potion (Keyed Fred Weasley)

Indifference potion (Keyed George Weasley)

Indifference potion (Keyed Bill Weasley)

Indifference potion (Keyed Charlie Weasley)

Submission Potion (Keyed Albus Dumbledore)

Compliancy Potion (Keyed Albus Dumbledore)

Accounts:

Potter Vaults

  * 1000 Gallons a year transferred to the accounts of Molly Weasley, Ronald Weasley, Ginerva Weasley, Dursley family
  * 5000 Gallons a year transferred to the accounts of Albus Dumbledore
  * 2500 Gallons a year transferred to The Bird Fund



Contracts:

Marriage contract to one Ginerva Weasley (Illegal)

Once he had read everything, he looked up to both the goblins and gave them the test and asked,” Now what am I supposed to do?”

Gorrak and Farlig both were shaken to find out that there were this many potions and charms on the young wizard. Gorrak instantly straighten up and asked Harry,” Mr. Potter We would advise that you get rid of this compulsion charms and potions from your person as early as possible. If you are amenable than we can remove those at this very moment.”

Harry let out a breath of relief and immediately agreed to what the older goblin was saying,” I would like to remove this block and potion right now. I would really appreciate your help.” Gorrak turn around to face Farlig and asked him,” Would you please guard the door.”

He went to the desk and took out to crystal balls and put each in Harry’s hands one by one and asked Harry to lie down on the transfigured bed. Then he began chanting, at first, he couldn’t understand the language but than he remembered it being the language of goblins.

Slowly the chanting grew lauder and lauder and Harry could see sweat forming on older goblin’s head. Suddenly both the crystal turned dark black and Gorrak sank down in the chair opposite to Harry. He said,” You may sit up Mr. Potter. Whoever placed those curses certainly did not want to give up without fight. But it is done. I have put aside the sample of the magic, should you decide to press charges against those who have wronged you, this can be used to compare their magical signature and prove their guilt.”

Harry took a deep breath and realised that he felt lighter than he ever felt before. He could sense the difference between before and after. He had to give to Dumbledore that man was a selfish bastard through and through.

Harry was relieved upon hearing this, he asked the Goblins,” What about the lordships? I do not know anything about it.” Gorrak sit up and begin explaining him,” At this moment of time you can not claim the Lordships since you are not of age yet, but you can claim Heirship by accepting the heirship rings. We will update our records and have the vaults ownership adjusted. However, heirs to ancient bloodlines play an important role in wizarding culture you are the future of your people, Mr Potter. It is your job to preserve and uphold your family magics, as well as prepare yourself to enter the Wizengamot when the appropriate time arrives. I suggest you contact other family heirs and discuss the role with them; I’m afraid goblins know little in the ways of wizard culture. I would also suggest that you inform other heirs to take such test so we can neutralise them for potions and charms as well, specially inform those who are listed in your tests, it is highly likely that they are also compromised in the same manner.”

Harry agreed that he would inform everyone else as fast as he could and then asked Goblins,” You have helped me more than I have expected. How much do I owe you for all this services?”

Gorrak and Farlig shred a toothy smile and replied,” We will take the necessary expense from your vault and owl you the bill. Mr.Potter.”

“I shall send it alongside your portfolio. I will also send recommendations for an account manager, and perhaps some investments if that is your wish. The money in those vaults has languished far longer than we would like, seeing it back in circulation would make goblin-kind very happy indeed.” 

“I would appreciate that, Gorrak. Thank you.”

“It is our pleasure, Mr Potter. Now,” Farlig said, clasping his hands in front of him. “I believe you originally came here to withdraw money from your vault?”

“I would like to book an appointment for my friends for same services for tomorrow at 12 o’clock. If you are amenable.” Farlig agreed wholeheartedly and sent him on his way.

Harry took the money and bolted through Diagan Alley towards Scribbulus Writing Instruments bought two self-inking quill and some parchment went straight to Magical Menagerie and bought another owl who was medium sized, grey coloured with some white patches here and there. He knew that Hedwig was quite recognisable owl, anywhere she would go she would stand out more than the rest of the owls.

Since he needed to be discreet regarding those tests and had be careful about whom to give that information or not, he had to buy a new owl. He named him Azure and ran straight to his room in Leaky Cauldron. He sat up at his desk and started writing letters to send.

First letter he wrote was to Draco since he was his mate, he had to inform him.

_Draco Malfoy_

_First, I would like to apologise for all the rude remarks and insults that I have thrown at you. You did not deserve any of that and I am deeply ashamed with my own behaviour. Truly I know I was not the only one responsible for that but still I could have stopped those fights but I didn’t. I have regretted my actions since then. The reason I am writing to you is very intimate and important as well. What I want to say to you can not be written on such letter since I do not know If my letters are being intercepted or not. Will you please meet me at Gringotts tomorrow at noon 12 o’clock? I swear on my magic that it is very important that we discuss what I have uncovered in private. Please bring your parents and any of your close friends you would like with you. If you are meeting me than please send me an answer with Azure. He will wait until you give him his reply._

_Waiting for your answer impatiently._

_Yours_

_Harry Potter_

Second letter he wrote was to Neville since he always regarded him as his brother in arms.

_Neville Longbottom_

_Hey Nev, I know I haven’t written you frequently this summer. I am sorry for that but I had some trouble at home with my muggle relatives which I hope you will understand. So, the reason I am writing to you now is because I have something important to inform you but we will have to meet in person for that. Can you please meet me at Gringotts tomorrow at noon 12 o’clock? I will fill you in once we meet, also bring your Grandmother as well. Please send a reply with Hedwig as soon as possible._

_Waiting for your answer._

_Yours_

_Harry Potter_

_P.S. Do not tell anyone you are meeting me specially Weasley Family._

Third letter he wrote was to Weasley twins.

_George-Fred Weasley_

_Hey Guys, firstly do not tell your mum Ron or Ginny that I have written you. I know we haven’t talked much in last month, but I miss you and your mischiefs. I want to meet you both as well as Bill and Charley. Can you make that happen? Ask both of your brother if they are ready to meet me if they agree than write to me as soon as possible. We will set up date and time afterwards. Do not inform anyone else that I have contacted you please. It is really important. Send me a response as early as possible._

_Waiting for your answer._

_Yours_

_Harry Potter_

Now all he had to do was to wait for their replies.


	2. Transformation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Instead waiting for replies Harry decides to go on shopping spree.

At Longbottom Manor

Neville was working in the garden on various flowerbeds. He was determined to improve the state of the garden by the end of summer. He also liked working on plants and such as Herbology was his favourite subject. His Gran was sitting on the garden chair sipping tea with some scones. Suddenly Hedwig flew in and sat in front of him. He took the letter from her and gave her some owl treats. She flew and sat on the nearest tree branch awaiting his reply.

Neville was not naïve, he may be a little coward but he was not naïve, he understood why Harry could not send letters to him. He had a suspicion that his muggle relatives were not very welcoming with him. But Harry had never said a single word to him or any of his friends for that matter. Since he didn’t say anything he didn’t want to pry. Harry would share anything and everything when he was ready. He would support Harry no matter what.

He tore open the letter and started reading. Once he was done reading, he was perplexed but couldn’t decide what to do so he gave the letter to his Gran and asked for her advice. “Hey Gran, Harry wrote me a letter asking him to meet at Gringotts tomorrow. Here read that, I can not understand what he is trying to say.”

Gran read the letter and shook her head and said,” You stupid boy, He has discovered something that he wants to inform you but he doesn’t know whom to trust yet. From the looks of it, it must be something important. Write him back and tell him we will meet him at the Gringotts bank tomorrow.”

Neville took the letter inside, went to the bathroom got freshen up and sat at his desk to write his reply. Once he was finished writing he went back outside gave his letter to Hedwig and said,” Here girl, Give this only to him. Be Careful bye.” With that Hedwig took off.

At Malfoy Manor

Draco was working with his father to learn his duties as an heir of House of Malfoy. His father was drilling him with so much information that he sometimes couldn’t catch up. Right at this moment His Father was teaching him how to keep track of all the important correspondence without making mess and how to organise the said correspondence to improve one’s efficiency.

He was elbow deep in the stacks of various letters and papers when an owl flew in and started tapping at the window. He got up and went to receive the letter. He didn’t recognise the owl at all. He took the letter from the owl and gave him some owl treats and sat back in his chair to read the letter.

Once he opened his letter his was pleasantly surprised that it was from Harry Bloody Potter. He read the letter and asked his father,” Father, here read this letter. Its from Harry Potter. He wants to meet at Gringotts tomorrow and I cannot fathom why?”

His father read the letter and went into a thoughtful silence and then said,” Son, it must be something important that Mr. Potter is contacting you but to what purpose?” He came out of his musings and said,” Send him a reply informing that you will be there with your parents and your friend if you want to take one. We will soon find out nature of this meeting anyways.”

Draco hummed in agreement and said,” I will fire call Blaise if he wants to join us than send the reply.” He got up from his chair and went into the sitting lounge where fireplace was. He fire called Blaise and waited for him to answer after several seconds Blaise came into view,” Draco, to what do I owe this pleasure?” Draco rolled his eyes and answered,” Hey Blaise I just received very unusual letter from Potter. He apologised for all the fights and insults. He wanted to inform me something but he said he would only do that in person. Father had agreed to meet him with me and Mother. I wanted to see if you wanted to join us. We are meeting at Gringotts tomorrow at noon 12 o’clock.”

“Alright you got my interest. I would join you just out of curiosity. Why would Potter suddenly wants to talk to you. You are right this is unusual. Alright than we will meet at Gringotts tomorrow.”

They said their good byes and Draco went to study to write his reply. Once he was done, he tied the letter to Azure’s leg and send him on his way. He went back to work with his father. What would be so important that Potter wanted to tell him in person. He couldn’t gauge the meaning of all this, the more he tried to understand he could feel the headache coming. So, he dropped that line of thinking and got back to work.

At Leaky Cauldron 

After sending both Hedwig and Azure Harry was feeling restless. He started making rounds inside his room thinking about all the things that he uncovered today. First and foremost was the fact that he had godfather and magical guardian. If what the test showed was true than he didn’t need to go back to Dursley’s ever again. But how could he find out where they both are. He took out the tests and was staring at his Godfather’s name. He had heard that name somewhere but he couldn’t remember where. While he had never heard his magical guardian’s name. He put the test back in his trunk. It was meaningless to waste time on thinking where they are when he doesn’t even know them. He needs to ask an elder about this.

He started pacing again and suddenly stopped in front of the mirror. He looked at his reflection, his clothes were several sizes bigger, barely hold up jeans with a belt, torn t-shirt and worn out sneakers, completely messy hair and broken glasses. If Draco agreed to meet him than tomorrow, he would be meeting his mate and his parents. God his nerves were all over the place. He had already ruined his impression with Draco’s father by freeing his elf against his wish. And the way he is looking right now wouldn’t help at all.

He mentally prepared the list of what he needs to buy for his wardrobe. Then took his wand and coin pouch and took off on his first ever shopping spree. The first place he would go would be Madam Primpernelle to either remove his numbers or buy a new fashionable glass. When he reached the shop, he stepped inside with a little bit of confidence and went straight to shop keeper and asked for the services,” Um, Hello I wanted to know what kind of services do you provide?” An elderly looking gentleman came forward and started describing,” Hello Mr. Potter. I am Jean Lavau. We provide all the kind of services from magically fixing your eyesight to indestructible glasses, taking prescription etc. What may I help you with today?”

“I would like to magically fix my eyesight. If you would be so kind.” 

“Of course, lad, here sit in this chair. It is rather simple spell just look straight ahead and remove those hideous glasses. I would cast the spell and don’t worry it doesn’t hurt at all.”

Harry removed his glasses and sat down on the chair and looked straight into the wand pointing at his eyes. Jean raised his wand and murmured the spell,” Cupio conspectum melium” A light blue light shot out the wand and enveloped both of Harry’s eyes.

Harry felt slight pressure on his eyes which lasted only a few seconds and then he opened his eyes and looked around and for the first time in his life he could see perfectly clear. He looked at the gentleman and he wasn’t at all elder he was middle aged man. Damn he didn’t know he was this blind. God he really did the right thing by fixing his eyes.

“And Can you see clearly?” Jean asked. “Yes, I can see crustal clear. Thank you, Sir. How much do I owe you for this?” Harry replied. “That’s Four gallons and seventy-five sickles.” said Jean.

Harry pulled out money from his coin pouch paid for the service and left the shop after complimenting the gentleman. Next stop was barber shop. He needed to take care of his mess of hair desperately. He increased his pace and went straight inside the shop and asked the lady who was free,” Hello I would like to have a haircut please.”

The lady had a tag on her clothes that said Lydia she had bright blue hair and several tattoos on her arms, she came forward and asked harry to sit in chair placed in front of the mirror. She asked,” Harry Potter Alright you are in desperate need of makeover dude. Look at your hair it looks like a bird’s nest. No offense mate.”

“Don’t worry. I know how my hair looks like. I don’t know anything about fashion as such. Would you please recommend something to me? I don’t usually put anything in my hair or do anything at all.”

She showed Harry few pictures for reference what she wanted to do with his hair. They argued back and forth for a few moments. Harry sighed and said,” I don’t mind the style as long it covers my scar. People usually become quite weird when they hear my name their eyes goes straight to my scar. Which makes me self-conscious.”

Lydia agreed and told him not to worry about and started working on Harry’s hair. After what seemed like half an hour she was done with his hair. When he opened his eyes and looked into the mirror, he couldn’t recognise himself. Without glasses and messy hair, he looked completely different person. His hair was short from the sides but rather long on front and center. It was properly styled and put into place. Lydia gave him a bottle of Sleazily Sleek Potion and a coconut milk shampoo and conditioner and said,” Use shampoo first than conditioner and lastly sleek potion and your hair would look put together the best. You can owl order these products if you run out of them. Don’t be a stranger if you need to amp up your look again do come back.” 

Harry showed gratitude for all the recommendation and asked,” How much do I owe you for all this?” Lydia replied,” Eight gallons and twenty-five sickles for haircut and products included.” Harry paid for the services and left the shop.

Next destination in his mind was Twilfitt and Tattings, he needed to buy a bottomless bag to put all the shopping he would do. He went inside the shop and asked the shop keeper about the products. Younger looking shop keeper whose name was Jordon came forward to help him. He asked Harry,” Hello sir How may I help you?” Harry instantly replied,” I am looking for a bottomless bag as well as custom made trunk.”

Jordon’s face promptly lit up like a sun and he started showing Harry various kinds of bags. He looked at all the options available but his eyes kept going back to only one. It was black leather messenger bag. He decided to buy it and then begin explaining what he wanted in his custom-made trunk,” I want four different compartments. Each one for specific things, first one for clothes, robes and night wear and such, second compartment for books, ink, parchment, potion ingredients and other study related stuff, third compartment for my broom and its polishing supplies and forth one for outer wear and shoes. I want bottomless charms on all four compartments so that I only have to carry one trunk. I also want to put protection charms, tracking charms and identification charms that way only I can have access to my trunk. Also, I want the trunk outer layer in Forest Green colour with silver linings.”

Jordon took notes of everything that Harry said and replied,” Alright, it will take at least two days to prepare the custom-made trunk once its ready we will send an owl to you for pick up. Harry said,” I have set up a line of credit with account manager. Once you are done with my order send the bill to Gringotts. They will take care of it. For now, I will pay for bottomless messenger bag. How much?”

Jordon answered,” Five gallons and fifty sickles.” Harry paid for the bag and started looking around for clothing store. He needed to pick at least few outfits that would suit him properly. He was roaming around when he came in front of Westwood’s Wizarding fashion, he was looking at mannequins through glass and decided to start from this shop. He entered the shop while looking around he realised this shop was for either pure blood or sophisticated and rich people. Never mind, Harry had looked at his vaults statements and details he was richer than he could ever comprehend. Harry had never bought clothes for himself; he was always wearing hand me downs of Dudley. Now he could change that since he didn’t need to worry about money at all. He went to menswear section of the shop and started browsing. He looked around in the shop with awe. There so many different things, self-mending clothes with dirt repelling charms or size adjusting charms. He was going through his growth spirt, so he decided to buy few clothes with size adjusting charms just in case, so he didn’t need to buy new clothes in near future. He cruised through the sections and started picking out items of clothing and went into trail rooms.

He put on every clothing items one by one and decided to buy a few. He picked one grey round neck t-shirt, black jeans, black jacket with in built cooling and warming charms, dark green turtle neck and grey trousers and a dark grey jacket. He also picked two Italian leather shoes one in black and another in brown. He went to front desk showed his purchase and gave his credit details for payment than put all of it in messenger bag.

Next, he needed to buy a few normal clothing for everyday wear and classes. He also needed to buy wizarding robes for formal occasions just in case. But he would buy those later. For now, he needed casual clothes after wondering for a while he stops in front of Silverlings Everyday wear. He went inside and started looking into racks of different clothing’s. He started pulling different clothes one by one and then went on to trail those.

After browsing and taking trails for about two hours he had significant number of clothes. He picked two basic round neck t-shirts one in white while other in black, dark blue V-neck t-shirt, light blue faded denim, two dark blue jeans, rich burgundy button down, dark green formal shirt with black waist coat, one black and one navy blue blazer, one black; one brown and one dark grey trousers. He also picked four pairs of silk pyjamas, one black; one dark blue; one dark green and one dark grey. He picked out ten pairs of boxers as well. He also chose one black comfortable dragonhide boots and three pairs of sneakers and two pairs of trainers.

Once he was sure he had everything he was looking for he went to settle the payment and pack his purchases. He placed everything in his messenger bag. When he went outside of the shop, he felt lighter than ever. He knew he had to buy a few more things but majority of his shopping was done. Now all he needed were a few miscellaneous things like watch, cologne, wand holster, shower gels and stuff like that.

When he was done with rest of his shopping Harry was on his way to Flourish and Bolts, he came in front of apothecary, he looked at his reflection and realised he had lost a significant amount of weight, he decided to buy some nutrient potion as well as weight gaining potion.

Once he bought his potions he went to Flourish and bolts and started looking around, he needed to understand his creature inheritance as well as elemental abilities. He bought a few books on both the subjects, he also picked out random books like 100 spells every wizard should know, introduction to Wizarding world, History of Wizengamot and Pure blood culture and its etiquettes etc.

As soon as he was done with his shopping he ran to his room in Leaky Cauldron. He pulls out all the shopping from his bag and put it in his wardrobe temporarily, once his custom-made trunk was ready, he would sort out everything and organise it accordingly.

He decided to take shower since he had spent at least five hours running around in Diagan Alley. He pulls out his fresh new pyjamas and went into bathroom for shower. After an entire day of walking and shopping, hot water was soothing his aching feet. After spending several minutes just like that he finished his shower and dried himself off. Then put on his fresh pyjamas. He was feeling rather hungry so he asked to deliver his dinner in his room rather than going downstairs. He was not in mood of lifting a single finger.

While he was waiting for his dinner to arrive, Hedwig flew in and dropped Neville’s reply on his lap. Harry bolt right up, gave Hedwig some owl treats and water and opened the letter and stared reading.

_Harry Potter_

_Hiya Harry, It’s alright. I know how your muggle relatives are. You don’t need to apologise for anything. Anyways Gran and I are meeting you tomorrow at Gringotts. I didn’t understand what you were saying but we will see each other soon so it’s okay. Also do not worry no one knows you sent me and owl. Just me and my Gran._

_See you tomorrow._

_Yours_

_Neville Longbottom_

After reading Neville’s reply, Harry let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He trusted Neville but, in this matter, he had be extra careful. He trusted Ron without a doubt may be that’s why. He needed to more perceptive than ever. Ron was his first ever friend in entire world, May be that’s why he misjudged him. But than there was a possibility that Ron didn’t knew about potions and spells. But it was highly unlikely. He lost in his thoughts when there was a knock on his door.

He received his dinner and put it on coffee table and started eating. He was so ravenous that he didn’t even stopped to see what he was eating. After finishing his dinner, he took his nutrient and weight gaining potion. He was about to put off candles when Azure came flying in and sat down in his lap. He took the letter from him and slowly stroked his feathers. He opened the reply and started reading it.

_Harry Potter_

_I have no idea why you are apologising and what your play is. But if you are genuine with your words and efforts than I would like to apologise as well. My reason for insulting and saying mean things is quite pathetic, if you knew you would sure make fun of me. But that is the story was another day. I would like to inform you that Me, my father and mother and my best friend Blaise Zabini will be joining me for our meetings. Don’t be late Potter, father hates tardiness._

_We will see each other soon._

_Yours_

_Draco Malfoy_

While reading the letter his face broke into weird grin. He was feeling quite lucky that they agreed to meet since his past encounter with both the Malfoys senior and junior were not pleasant. But he was at fault both the times. He had rejected Draco’s offer of friendship which was insulting to say the least. But Draco had been right about one thing that he had said about wizarding families. He had put his trust in wrong family that was pretty much obvious at this point. He fed Azure some treats gave him some water than went to bed. It was a big day tomorrow. He needed them to trust him. If they didn’t nothing would come out of this meeting. With this thoughts exhaustion finally caught up to Harry and he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter would be about the actual meeting.


	3. Meeting

At Leaky Cauldron

Sun was shining through curtains when Harry slowly woke form his slumber. When he opened his eyes for the first time in years, he felt well rested. He got up from his bed and cast a tempus charm to see the time. It was nearly nine o’clock in the morning. No wonder he felt well rested he had never slept this late in his life. When he was at Dursley’s he had to wake up early to do his chores and to make breakfast. While at Hogwarts he had to wake up early for classes and such.

Today was very important day for him, he had meeting both Longbottom and Malfoy family. He had to take shower, get ready and have breakfast and reach Gringotts before they arrive there. So, he got up took shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and towel and went into the bathroom. He put all the products at the counter and started shower. He remembered the instructions given by Lydia, he slowly massaged shampoo in his wet hair with circulating motions. Once he was satisfied with that, he rinses it off with cold water and applied conditioner on his hair length. Then he lathered shower gel all over his body focusing on his armpits and private parts to get rid of sweat and germ as well as odour. Once he was done than he rinses it all off with cold water. After finishing his shower, he dries off with towel and covers his lower half with towel and went to his room to get ready.

He put small dollop of sleek potion in his hand and run it between his palms, then slowly applies it to his hair length. Once he was satisfied with how his hair was looking, he started pulling out the outfit for the day. First, he wears his boxers and then put on dark blue V-neck t-shirt and grey trousers. He applies cologne on his wrists and neck, he had never liked musky or strong fragrance but when shop keeper showed him this mild Indian rose fragrance with subtle notes of bergamot, he instantly fell in love with it. The fragrance wasn’t floral in the least it was subtle yet classy. Lastly, he put on grey jacket, black watch, wand holster and black leather shoes and completes his outfit. When he looks into the mirror, the mirror said,” Now that’s so much better. Dear.”

He blushed hearing the compliment, he had never been complimented by anyone for his looks, mostly people would only recognise him either for his scar or for his mother’s eyes. He looked at his watch it was ten fifteen already. He put his room in little bit of order, put his wand in holster was about to leave for breakfast when he saw the letter that he wrote for Weasley twins. He hadn’t sent it yet, both Hedwig and Azure were busy yesterday so he had put it aside. He tied the letter to Azure’s leg gave him some treats and asked him to deliver the letter,” Here, please deliver it to the twins only. Make sure no one is around when you deliver okay. Be careful bye.” With that Azure took off. It was going to be long journey for him since the Weasley clan was in Egypt for summer trip.

He wondered when he would get to travel around the world. With that thought he took his messenger bag put a book about Pure blood culture and etiquettes inside with his inheritance test, locked his room behind him and went downstairs for breakfast.

He sat at the far end corner table with a view of the street, when waiter came, he ordered his normal breakfast which consisted sausages, eggs, baked beans, toast and some earl grey tea. After a while he took out the book and started reading while waiting for his breakfast to arrive.

Some time later his breakfast arrived and he started eating and reading at the same time. God there were so many things that he didn’t knew about pure blood culture, no wonder Draco consider him a heathen. He had been making himself look like a complete fool for past two years, God why does no one ever tells him anything. First no one told him that all accidents that he was causing were accidental magic, then his parents being wizard and witch or that his parents were murdered by some mad lunatic or that his mother was pure blood, everyone seem to think that his mother was muggleborn witch.

On his first day of school he had befriended Ron and Hermione, but neither of them seems to know about these etiquettes since Hermione was muggleborn and Ron well, Ron was supposed to be Pure blood but he had never seen him showing proper manners at all. No wonder Draco was insulting him every chance he gets. He ate his breakfast silently and when he was done eating, he put his things away and got up to reach Gringotts in time. He checked the time yet again it was now quarter to twelve o’clock, he reached the entrance of the bank to wait for others to arrive.

He waited for five minutes before Neville arrived with his grandmother, Harry greeted them both bowing his head and opening his palms to show empty hands and started to explain why they were waiting.

“Hey, Neville. Hello, Regent Longbottom, thank you for bringing Neville. It really is important that I talk to you both otherwise I wouldn’t have disturbed you at all. How are you Nev? I am sorry for not writing early.”

To which Neville replied, “It’s okay. Harry You don’t have to apologise as I said yesterday, I understand it. But damn Harry, I didn’t even recognise you with this new hair and clothes, you look completely different. You even got rid of your glasses.” Neville’s Gran also greeted him, “It’s alright Mr. Potter. It is nice to meet you after all. Neville here talks a lot about you. And now I can see why he admires you so much.”

Neville was flushing red due to his Gran’s antics, then Harry told them,” I am sorry that you have to stand here but if you want to than you can go inside, I have arranged a meeting room for today’s meeting. Just ask for Farlig he will show you the way. I am waiting to receive the other family that I have invited.”

Neville and his Gran agreed to go inside and wait for them in meeting room. Now it was almost twelve o’clock when he heard the tell-tale sign of apparition, he turned around to greet them.

Draco Malfoy had always been proud about the way he looked and presented himself, never had he met someone who would take his breath away in first glance only, that’s why when he saw him, he was speechless and thoroughly shocked. He was sure that was Harry Potter but he didn’t look like the messy git he knew in school, this new Harry was completely different person, he was wearing dark blue V-neck t-shirt with grey trouser and jacket, he was adorned with classic black leather shoes and watch, his hair was perfectly styled and his hideous glasses were gone; Merlin the boy standing in front him was looking like Adonis. His green eyes were looking in his soul. For the first time in his life he forgot his manners and was standing dumbfounded.

His mother, father and Blaise were waiting for him to greet them since he was asked to meet and they were accompanying, Harry was the one who spoke first. He greeted them each by bowing and showing empty hands in proper wizarding manners.

“Lord Malfoy, I would like to apologise first for out last encounter, I was the one who was out of line; I shouldn’t have freed your elf without your knowledge. I am deeply regretful for my actions.”

Draco’s father was also stunned with this line of conversation but he was Politian he knew when to take the opportunity to direct the conversation. He replied with ease,” It’s alright Mr. Potter. Dobby had always been difficult to control, nevertheless I accept your apology. Now I would like to know the reason behind this meeting.”

Harry nodded and answered,” Yes of course. Draco, Blaise Lord and lady Malfoy I have arranged a private meeting room for us. If you will please follow me.” He took all four of them inside when they were all greeted by Goblin. Goblin than led them to their private room where the meeting was to take place. When they entered the room Neville and his grandmother was already siting there. Seeing the awkwardness Harry addressed them all,” I know you are not very familiar with each other but please for today only I would ask all of you to put aside the differences for some time. Once we are done with meeting, I will no longer demand anything from you.” Everyone nodded their head in affirmation. When Farlig the goblin told Harry,” Heir Potter, please inform them the agenda of meeting I will fetch Gorrak for the rest.”

There were total eight chairs four facing other four and in between there was a small table. Harry Neville and his Gran took seat on the left side and Draco his parents and Blaise took their seat in right side.

Finally, when everyone was seated, Harry took his inheritance test out and give it to Draco saying,” Read this first, you will understand why I asked you to meet me. Once you have read it circulate it so that everyone else can read it as well.” Then he got back to his seat.

Draco took the parchment out of his hands and opened it, it was Harry’s inheritance test, why was Harry showing him this, he was thoroughly confused but he kept reading; Salazar; saying he was shocked would be understatement of the centuries. This many potions and spells controlling him, it was like he had no free will at all; also, he was veela and Harry was his mate. Merlin Harry was duke, he had not just one but two dukedom seats. By morgana before he was even finished his blood was boiling how dare they try to control someone like that; also stealing from him; father would have their heads if he knew something like that had happened to his mate. He gave the test to Blaise to read. One by one everyone has read the test.

The tension in the room was palpable now, Harry had no ideas how to handle such situation. Draco’s mother was the one to speak first; she got up and wrapped her arms around him and said,” God how dare they do such horrible things to a child. I will have their heads for this Lucius; mark my words. They will not get away with this.”

Neville’s gran was the one to speak next,” Do not worry young Mr Potter. We will assist you any way we can.”

Lucius said,” I agree Narcissa; but please let the boy breath a little.” Chuckling Narcissa let go of him and got back to her seat.

Harry addressed them then,” The reason I asked you all here is pretty simple; since Dumbledore had put this many attempts to control me, I believe that you are also compromised the same way. Neville and Draco if you can please take the same test to find out if the old headmaster had done something to you or not. When I think about it, I have never spent much time alone with headmaster or eaten anything from him, so he must have administered those potions with my food. Which means he can give this to anyone during the meals at Hogwarts.”

Now they were all contemplating what Harry had just said. But it was true he had never spent more than two or three minutes alone with Headmaster.

Gorrak came in at this moment and greeted everyone and said,” I agree to what Heir Potter had said. If we find more than one student compromised than it must prove this suspicion.”

Neville’s Gran agrees wholeheartedly and said,” Why not, we usually do these tests when they start the school but we have lost our touch with tradition. Neville will take the test right away Gorrak.”

At the same time Blaise speak up to Lord Malfoy,” Lord Malfoy, will you please contact my mother; I also want to take the test but I want my mother to be present with me.”

Lord Malfoy agreed and asked the Goblins to use their customer contacting services, he contacted Blaise’s mother and asked her to come at Gringotts. When he came back Gorrak was giving the parchment and knife to Neville and said,” Add three drops of blood on the parchment and we are done.”

Neville took the knife pricked his fingers and added three dopes of blood on the parchment and after few seconds words started to appear on the blank pages.

At the same time Lord and Lady Malfoy also agreed to take the test for Draco. Gorrak showed him the same process and gave him his parchment and knife.

Draco did the same thing Harry and Neville had done; added three drops of blood of the parchment and waited to see the results.

INHERITANCE TEST

Name: Naville Frank Longbottom (Pure Blood)

Age: 13 years born July 30, 1990

Parents:

Father: Frank Roland Longbottom (Pure Blood)

Mother: Alice Leila Longbottom (nee`Gladstone) (Pure Blood)

Godparents:

Godfather: Montgomery Longbottom 

Godmother: Lily Rose Potter nee` Evans (deceased)

Magical Guardian:

Augusta Roland Longbottom

Heir of Dukedom:

Archaic and Royal House of Hufflepuff

Lordships:

Ancient and Most Noble House of Vane

Ancient and Most Noble House of Longbottom

Ancient and Most Noble House of Fawley

Ancient and Noble of House of Gladstone

Inherited Traits:

Wandless Magic

Elemental Magic

Natural Legilimency

All talk Ability

Family Magic:

Creature Inheritance of Wood Elf (Sub) (Blocked by Albus Dumbledore)

Creature’s Mate: Blaise Cyprus Zabini (Elf-Dom) (Blocked by Albus Dumbledore)

Family Elemental Alignment to Earth (Blocked by Albus Dumbledore)

Magical Spells/Potions:

Loyalty to Albus Dumbledore (Cast by Albus Dumbledore)

Mistrust/Fear of Slytherin House members, Severus Snape, Dark Magic (Cast by Albus Dumbledore)

Witless Potion (Administered by Albus Dumbledore)

Intelligence Blocked 80% (Cast by Albus Dumbledore)

Core Blocked 60% (Cast by Albus Dumbledore)

Magic Leech (Placed by Albus Dumbledore)

_Indifference potion (Keyed Harry Potter)_

_Indifference potion (Keyed Fred Weasley)_

_Indifference potion (Keyed George Weasley)_

_Indifference potion (Keyed Ronald Weasley)_

_Indifference potion (Keyed Ginerva Weasley)_

Money taken from accounts:

Longbottom Vaults

  * 500 Gallons a month transferred to the accounts of Augustus Longbottom, Angie Longbottom, Enid Longbottom



Contracts:

None

Neville and his gran were reading his results when Draco’s results started to show up.

INHERITANCE TEST

Name: Draconis Lucius Malfoy (Pure Blood)

Age: 13 years born June 5, 1990

Parents:

Father: Lucius Abraxas Malfoy (Pure Blood)

Mother: Narcissa Rhea Malfoy (nee`Black) (Pure Blood)

Godparents:

Godfather: Severus Tobias Snape

Godmother: Andromeda Lisa Tonks nee`Black

Magical Guardian:

Regulus Orion Black (Incapcitated)

Heir of Dukedom:

Archaic and Royal House of Ravenclaw

Lordships:

Ancient and Most Noble House of Malfoy

Ancient and Most Noble of House of La Fey

Ancient and Most Noble House of Baudin

Ancient and Noble House of Cote

Inherited Traits:

Pyromancy

Elemental Magic

Natural Occlumency

Metamorphmagus

Family Magic:

Creature Inheritance of Veela (Blocked by Albus Dumbledore)

Creature’s Mate: Harrison James Potter (Phoenix) (Blocked by Albus Dumbledore)

Family Elemental Alignment to Air (Blocked by Albus Dumbledore)

Magical Spells/Potions:

Loyalty to Lucius Malfoy & Lord Voldemort (Cast by Albus Dumbledore)

Hatred/Mistrust of Gryffindor House members, Harry Potter (Cast by Albus Dumbledore)

Reckless Potion (Administered by Albus Dumbledore)

Core Blocked 40% (Cast by Albus Dumbledore)

Magic Leech (Placed by Albus Dumbledore)

Submission Potion (Keyed Lucius Malfoy)

Compliancy Potion (Keyed Lucius Malfoy)

Money taken from accounts:

Malfoy Vaults: None

Contracts:

Marriage contract to one Astoria Greengrass (Legal)

Draco was furious, his magic was going haywire by reading this test, he had been subjected to follow some else’s biding; oh, if he got his hands on that old coot he will surely pay for his deeds. Draco gave his test to his parents to read and started pacing around the room to control his anger. When his parents were done reading, they were also seething in anger; that old man had tried to interfere with their lineage; both of them would make him pay for what he had done to their child. Narcissa and Lucius hugged Draco and asked Gorrak,” I know you provide services to remove this spells and potions. Please remove them from his person as soon as possible.”

Gorrak agreed and looked at Neville’s Gran who had the same request,” I would also request the same services for my grandson and please inform me if any difficulty arise.”

With that Gorrak took Neville and Draco with him in another chamber for cleansing process. Harry looked at Farlig and said,” You were supposed to give recommendations for my vault managers, do you have that list?”

Farlig replied.,” Of course Heir Potter but there is already one goblin appointed by your ancestors who works as your vault manager.”

“if this the same goblin who allowed someone else to take money from my vault without my permission, fire him immediately; if you are amenable, I want you to manage all of my accounts but if not than your recommendations would suffice.”

Farlig’s face lit up instantly and he agreed to becoming his vault manager. One thing that was nagging him since yesterday was that the test showed her mother to be pure blood witch while everyone seems to think that she was muggleborn. So, throwing caution he was about to ask Farlig about the same when the door to their room opened and a royal looking woman entered. It was Blaise’s mother Zaira Zabini. She had rich dark skin with long black hair and she was dressed in jewelled dress robes of pure silk by the looks of it. She went to Lord and Lady Malfoy and greeted them and asked why was she asked to come here on such short notice,” Well it is nice to meet you all again but Blaise dear why am I here?”

Blaise answered,” I want to take the inheritance test if you will allow me mamma.”

She didn’t have much information about what was happening but the inheritance test was fairly harmless so she agreed for it instantly.

Farlig gave Blaise parchment and knife and gave instructions, Blaise did the same as everyone else. And results started to show up on the blank pages.

INHERITANCE TEST

Name: Blaise Cyprus Zabini (Pure Blood)

Age: 13 years born May 24, 1990

Parents:

Father: Cyprus Callem Cresswell (Pure Blood)

Mother: Zaira Carina Zabini (Pure Blood)

Godparents:

Godfather: Lucius Abraxas Malfoy

Godmother: Aurora Amelia Greengrass

Magical Guardian:

Narcissa Rhea Malfoy

Heir of Dukedom:

Archaic and Royal House of Slytherin

Archaic and Royal Heir of Severan Dynasty

Lordships:

Most Ancient and Noble House of Zabini

Ancient and Noble of House of Slewyn

Ancient and Noble House of Cresswell

Inherited Traits:

Wandless Magic

Elemental Magic

Aura Reading

Matter Manipulation

Family Magic:

Creature Inheritance of Water Elf (Dom) (Blocked by Albus Dumbledore)

Creature’s Mate: Neville Frank Longbottom (Elf-Sub) (Blocked by Albus Dumbledore)

Family Elemental Alignment to Water (Blocked by Albus Dumbledore)

Magical Spells/Potions:

Loyalty to Draco Malfoy (Cast by Albus Dumbledore)

Hatred/Mistrust of Muggleborns and other house members (Cast by Albus Dumbledore)

Ignorance Potion (Administered by Albus Dumbledore)

Intelligence Blocked 60% (Cast by Albus Dumbledore)

Core Blocked 60% (Cast by Albus Dumbledore)

Magic Leech (Placed by Albus Dumbledore)

_Indifference potion (Keyed Harry Potter)_

Money taken from accounts:

Zabini Vaults: None

Contracts:

None

Once the test was done Blaise read and then gave the test to His mother, he turned to Farlig and asked,” I would like to get rid of these spells and potions immediately.” Farlig asked His mother for permission,” Lady Zabini can I take your child for cleansing process?”

Zaira Zabini was looking furious still she controlled her emotions and give them nod to go ahead. Farlig took Blaise with him to the chamber where others were.

Now that they were gone adults started discussing the course of actions. Narcissa said,” I do not think that our children would spend a single minute with the headmaster. I agree to what Harry said earlier. It seems that headmaster is giving every single student these potions.”

Zaira agreed and said,” I agree and if that is true, we need to inform other families about this so that they can get rid of spells and potions before they go back to Hogwarts. I however do not think I will send Blaise back to the retched excuse of a school. My child will not be used like this ever again.”

Lucius argued and said,” Be that as it may, but you cannot take Blaise anywhere, look at the test’s results Blaise is Duke of House Slytherin, Draco is Duke of Ravenclaw while Harry and Neville are Dukes of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. They are the future of Britain’s wizarding world. They are needed here.”

Neville’s Gran said,” I agree with Lord Malfoy. If we take our children out and leave everyone and everything in hands of Dumbledore, he will ruin our entire world. We need to look at bigger picture. We cannot turn blind eye to what is happening at the school not without destroying our wizarding world altogether.”

To which Harry contributed,” We cannot inform everyone at the same time, why not do it gradually, that way we can control who knows and who doesn’t; it will also give us time to distinguish between those who are forced and who are doing it intentionally. Like Neville and Draco didn’t know about these potions until I told them. While Ron and her mother and sister knew and also took advantage of that. Let’s start with close circle than go from there and it will also give us much better control over the situation.”

All elders were now looking at him with something akin to awe. Zaira grinned at him and said,” Well said Heir Potter. We should start from there and once more people know about these transgressions than we can take Dumbledore to Wizengamot and get him out of positions of power. Of course, it will take time and some careful planning. Which is right up your alley Lucius.”

Lucius smiled at her and approved of their planning for now it seems like a right course of action. They were about to go into another round of discussion when door to their room opened, Farlig and Gorrak were back with Draco, Neville and Blaise. Harry got up and asked them,” Are you guys alright?”

Neville hugged him and said,” Thank you Harry. If it wasn’t for you; I would have never found out that everything that was wrong with me was because of Dumbledore’s meddling.”

Harry hugged him with same ferocity and said,” You would do the same for me Nev. I am happy that you are all fine now. I don’t like the fact that someone can take our free will and choice to decide and force us do his bidding.” He turned to Draco and asked,” I know we have been at odds with each other but I hope we can move forward and know each other better in the future.”

Draco gave him a soft smile and said,” I know what happened in last two years was not our fault, I also have been prat towards you; if you accept my apology only than we will move forward.” Harry heart gave him a little flutter he agreed with Draco readily. Draco then turned towards Blaise pointing him at Neville and said,” You know he is your mate, why not make an effort to get to know each other, we still have three years before we get our inheritance.”

Blaise walked towards Neville and smiled and said,” I know we haven’t talked at all in past. But it ought to change if we are to be mated. Hi I am Blaise Zabini.” And offered him his hand, Neville shook his hand and said, “Hi I am Neville Longbottom. I know its early but since my gran is here, I want you to meet my Gran only if you want to.” Blaise agreed but also took his mother with her since they were to become family, Neville took them towards his Gran for introductions.

At the same time Draco asked Harry if he would be interested in meeting his parents as his mate even though they knew Harry, Draco wanted to formally introduce him. Harry agreed and took his offered hand. Draco and Harry were now standing in front of his parents and Draco introduced them,” Father Mother I want to introduce you to my mate, Harrison James Potter. Harry, these are my parents Lord Malfoy and Lady Malfoy.” He turned to his father and said,” Father you need to get rid of that marriage contract. When I get my inheritance my veela would not accept anyone else as my mate but Harry.”

Harry looked up and offered them small smile, he was feeling quite out of place; he didn’t know what to say so he stood there awkwardly. Narcissa took pity on him and said,” We know this is extremely unusual situation for you given your past experience with our family. But you are going to be part of our family, so you have to get over the shyness. You may call me Narcissa or Cissa if you want.”

Lucius turned towards Draco and said,” I know about Veela’s mating behaviour and their traits Draco. Do not fret, I will talk to the Greengrass family about it, since you have Veela inheritance it will be rather easy to explain it to them.”

Once the introductions were over everyone took their seats, all elders on the right side and all teens on the left side.

This was when Gorrak came forward and addressed them,” Lord Malfoy, ladies and young heirs, this is the first time where four heirs of founders are together after Hogwarts’ came into existence. It rather extraordinary that we have two royalties as well. Heir Zabini here is duke of Severan Dynasty while Heir Potter here is Duke of Pendragon Dynasty. There hasn’t been an heir who was accepted by their family magics in both lines in last five hundred to seven hundred years. What is unusual is that Heir Potter got the Duke lineage from his mother’s side. Which everyone seemed to believe was muggleborn.”

Harry was confused to what being Royalty entails so he asked him,” Sorry if this sounds insignificant question but I don’t know anything about Pendragon Dynasty or what it entails?”

Gorrak smiled and began explaining,” It’s alright Heir Potter. Pendragon Dynasty is the line of King Arthur. Both Severan Dynasty as well as Pendragon Dynasty are known to be first Royalty to came into existence. Lord Pendragon was believed to have control over the dragons hence the name Pendragon. People from this line had the ability to converse with dragons. The word Pendragon comes from welsh origin and its literal meaning is Chief Dragon or Head Dragon. King Arthur was the last one to hold the title of Chief Dragon. No one after him was able to hold that position.”

Harry was blown away with all the information. He could not comprehend these changes, specially being Duke. Wait, accepted by magic what does it even means. He asked Gorrak,” You said no one was accepted by family magic. What does it mean? I am sorry for asking these questions but I was raised by muggles so I don’t know much about these things.”

This time Lord Malfoy replied,” You see, Harry in old days pure wizarding families weren’t divided by blood status since there were very few muggleborn wizards and witches, as such these families used to blood adopt them; it would expand the wizarding family and give theses muggleborn wizard and witches a place and standing in our society. But there are flaws in every plan we make; heads of these family didn’t think that their sons and daughters would question their decisions; not everyone were accepting of these changes; they were of opinion that only those who have blood of the lineage should be the next head of the family. Thus, was created the problem of blood purity and status; to avoid rift between the entire family the Lords of each family decided to alter their family magic in such way that it would only accept those who were worthy and of pure heart. Since then many old family’s lineage had died out; No one has seen these names in last three to four hundred years. It means that even if you have blood of the said family if the family magic does not accept you as an Heir; it would not show up in your inheritance.”

Neville’s Gran said,” You see; in all of your inheritance tests, there are lines that haven’t had a Lord in hundreds of years. Neville has ancient Vane family lineage, Harry has ancient Peverell family lineage, Draco has ancient La Fey family lineage and Blaise has ancient Slewyn family lineage; each of this line haven’t had a Lord in last five hundred years or so. For all these lines to show up all at once; it is unprecedented.”

Harry was absorbing all the information he was getting; it was so surreal for him to know these things; and to think these old families magic considers him worthy; it was definitely something out of the world. Two years ago, he would have never believed that he was Heir or Lord let alone royalty. If his Uncle and Aunt knew or even found out they would take it all away. He had to keep all this information to himself. He cannot, will not go back to them. He had to ask Draco’s parents if they knew his godfather or magical guardian.

Harry looked at Narcissa and asked,” I am sorry but I have to ask this, do any of you know Sirius Black or Remus Lupin?” They were looking at him weirdly so he hurried and added,” Since one is my godfather and other is my magical guardian, if I can contact either of them, I would not have to go back to Dursley’s again. They are not nice people.”

It was Draco who asked him what he didn’t want to say to anyone but since he was his mate he had right to know about his situation. Draco asked,” I wanted to ask you about that, what are you doing in Diagon Alley all by yourself and your tests showed something about abuse at home. What is it that you are not telling me?”

Harry took a deep breath and stared telling them his story,” I know Draco that you believed I had grown up as spoilt brat or something but it is farthest from the truth. I didn’t even know I was wizard until my Hogwarts letter showed up, I have been living with my Muggle relatives. From my mother’s side. My aunt hated my mom because she was a witch, she was jealous and bitter about it. So, they hated me as well because I was just like my mom. They treated me even worse than house elf. I had long list of chores to do; if I had done my work properly only then I was allowed to eat; that too were table scraps; I had to cook, clean and do everything they asked me. They starved me on many occasions, Until I turned eleven years old, I lived in a cupboard under the stairs, it was my bedroom; even my Hogwarts letter was addressed as Harry Potter Cupboard under the stairs little whinging. But worst of all was when my magic would act up, since I was a baby, I couldn’t control it; and my uncle would literally try to beat the magic out of me. One time when my whale of cousin and his friends were chasing me, I ran into street where a car was coming from behind; I got scared and apparated on top of the roof. My uncle saw that and he beat me for that; My arm was broken because of that beating. Every time my magic would flare up, I would get beaten for it. Last year when Dobby showed up and dropped the cake on my uncle’s guest; he locked me into my room and put bars on the windows. I was only allowed to leave the room twice in day to use the loo and they would give me food scraps by flap door. Ron and his twin brothers rescued me from there. Two days ago, my uncle’s sister was visiting and she started bad mouthing about my parents and my magic flared up and I blew up my aunt; I mean she got big like a balloon and floated away. After that I took all my stuff and run away from them; because I knew they would beat me; I got on Knight Bus and came to Diagon Alley; where Minister Fudge was waiting for me. He told me that they had taken care of my aunt and removed the memory of this incident. You know what I did afterwards, and here we are. So please if any of you know my godfather or my magical guardian please tell me so that I don’t have to go back to them.”

By the time Harry finished his story every single person was teary eyed. To have gone through all that as a child was worst fate of all. Draco’s magic flared up and harry looked at him when Draco hugged him fiercely and said with gritted teeth,” You are never going back to them ever again. Over my dead body would I allow my mate to be treated like that ever again. You hear me. YOU ARE NEVER GOING BACK TO THEM.” He let go of him and almost screamed the last sentence. But he tried to reign in his composure. He was a Malfoy after all, Malfoy do not lose control over their emotions in public. Narcissa got up from her seat and hugged Harry and said,” Oh my poor child, you should never have to face such things; but we cannot change the past, I will promise you these from this day forward you will only know love and compassion; we will never allow anyone to treat you like that. And yes, I knew your godfather and magical guardian. Sirius was my cousin after all. Sweetie there is no gentle way of saying this but you need to know that your godfather is escaped convict. Sirius Black was believed to be supporters of you know who. He betrayed your parents and killed his best friend as well eleven muggles who were there. He was in Azkaban for last twelve years. He recently broke out of prison. No one knows where he is. And your magical guardian is Remus Lupin right, we can contact him for you and set up a meeting if you want.”

Lucius said,” I have been in contact with him recently due to his employment situation. I will take care of the meeting. Don’t worry.”

Neville’s Gran accused,” How in the merlin’s name Harry Potter’s custody was given to those damn muggles. Wasn’t James or Lily’s wills were heard before giving them their child. They surely would have made some arrangement for their child.” To which Gorrak said,” They had their wills made before going into hiding but after their death; Chief Warlock Dumbledore sealed those wills and took place of Harry’s magical guardian and gave them Harry’s custody.”

Zaira Zabini came out of her thoughts and said,” It seems like Dumbledore has been manipulating everyone’s life even before Harry became the boy who lived. This does seem disconcerting, because if so, every single student who had ever been to Hogwarts after Dumbledore became Headmaster is compromised in the same way. That means not only current students but all the past students, will also have to go through cleansing process. Which means Lucius and Narcissa you both have to go through cleansing. Sooner the better.”

Lucius and Narcissa agreed to cleansing process without a word and Gorrak took them with him to complete it. The rest were now sitting in the room in an awkward silence.

When Harry woke up today, he didn’t know that this day would bring these many surprises albeit a few are present ones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have changes the timeline of this entire fic, instead of 1980 i have changed everyone's birth year to 1990. so entire fic is forwarded 10 years into future. i wanted to take a modern approach hence the change. Hope you like it.


	4. Wills & Custody

When Lucius and Narcissa came back after the cleansing, they picked up the conversation where they had left it. Lucius questioned,” Harry can ask for his parents will. We can hear it right now and find out the truth at very least.”

All of them agreed to what Lucius had said and Harry demanded the will to be heard,” Farlig I would like to hear my parents will. Please.”

Farlig answered him immediately,” Alright, if you will follow me, I will take you there. If you want than rest of them can join you as well.” Harry nodded in affirmation and soon all of them were following Farlig in what seemed like stone aged corridor. Farlig said,” Gornuk will help you further.”

On que another Goblin appeared who was rather old and wrinkly with too much grey hair. He addressed Harry,” Harry Potter, I thought when would I be seeing you; you may follow me.” They were now in a large room, completely made of stone. The only light came from a few torches and a big fireplace. There was a big wooden table with enough comfortable chairs to sit on. The walls were covered with various cabinets.

“Take a seat. I will collect the wills.” Gornuk said and walked to a cabinet where he began to search through different maps.

Harry picked the chair in the middle and sat down. On his left was Draco and on his right Neville. Next to Draco was Lucius and Narcissa and Mrs. Zabini while next to Neville was Blaise and his Gran.

“The Potters. Found it.” Gornuk held out two dark stone in his hands. He placed one stone before Harry on the table and tapped on it once. A white smoke appeared from the stone and suddenly the smoke formed the face of his father James Potter.

Harry’s breath caught when he saw his parents. He knew how they looked like from his photo book, but then they were small. The face of his father was now a lot bigger and clearer. Draco slipped his hand into Harry’s and gave him light squeeze.

Suddenly his father’s voice rang through the entire room.

_My dearest Son,_

_The day that you were born, when the medi-witch gently placed you in my arms I was lost. When your baby green eyes locked into mine, I knew that I would do absolutely anything to protect you and keep you safe._

_I hope that the time I had with you, I did a good job raising you, I hope that I lived long enough to see all the things I talked about earlier. I hope that I was there when you found the man or woman you want to spend the rest of your life with, I was there to see you take their hand in marriage. I want you to find the same if not, a deeper and more passionate love that your mother and I had._

_My greatest hope is that you will never have to read this too early. But I fear Voldemort will find us, and we will not survive. Be vary of those around you son, only trust your godfather and moony; I fear I have placed my trust in wrong person. If we do not survive before coming out of hiding than I want it to be known that Peter Pettigrew was our secret keeper for fedelius charm. Albus Dumbledore knows this; but my trust in him is pretty shaken up at the moment. Don’t trust anyone else but Sirius and Remus; son they all have their own interests to keep. Take care my son. Me and your mother, we both love you very much._

_LAST WILL & TESTAMENT_

_I James Fleamont Potter of sound mind and body declare this my last will and testament. I hereby name my son Harrison James Potter my heir to the Noble House of Potter and all it holds. At the age of sixteen he shall be declared emancipated and should receive the title of the Lord Potter._

_If his mother Lily Potter nee Evans cannot care for Harry, he will go to the care of Sirius Orion Black, his Godfather. Sirius, I know that you will care for my prongslet as if he was your own._

_If Sirius Black is unable to care for Harry, he is to be placed in the care of Remus John Lupin and Severus Tobias Snape. I know that they will watch over him and care for him. Severus, no matter what we were in the past I know you will put it behind you to care for my son. I James C Potter trust Severus Tobias Snape with welfare of Harrison James Potter. I leave to you seventy thousand gallons, for Marlin’s sake buy new clothes and I also leave you the rare defence first addition books and journals you have coveted in the Potter library. Snape please take care of my son._

_I leave my beach house in Miami and 1,00,000 gallons to Sirius Orion Black, so make many memories there, Padfoot._

_I leave my Wiltshire cabin and 3,00,000 gallons to Remus J Lupin; you would love this place moony; it is all secluded and quite there. Right up your alley Moony._

_Prongslet, I leave you with these final words. If I meet my death before your fifth birthday, I place the blame squarely on my shoulders. I put my trust in the wrong person, and it led to my death. Do not trust twinkling blue eyes, behind those eyes are lies and nothing but deceit and betrayal. I found out too late, Harry. And, there was nothing I could do to stop it in time. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer._

_I am proud of you and love you, Harry. Live your life for you and only you and no one else._

_Your Father_

_Lord James F. Potter_

_Lord of the Noble House of Potter_

By the time his father stopped speaking, he was crying desperately. Draco pulled him into his arms and tried to sooth his pain; but it was for naught. His father had been betrayed but not by his godfather but someone else. At least something good came from this reading. His father wanted to be there for him, these words were more than enough for Harry, no adults had ever shown him any kind of love or care; but to listen to his father’s voice and hear him say that he loved him was more than enough for Harry. His heart was breaking into pieces.

After some time Gornuk asked,” Can we resume the hearing or shall we resume it another day? Mr. Potter.”

Harry looked up and said,” No, it alright. We should resume the hearing.”

Gornuk took the second stone and placed it in front of Harry and again tapped it once; smoke came out from the stone and turned into the shape of his mother.

_Hello love,_

_If you are hearing this than sadly, I have died. I hope you had wonderful life with me and your father, and that your father, Sirius and Remus has not turned you into their littlest Marauder. I hope that my death did not take me away before I saw you get married and have a family of your own. But if, by chance, I was taken too soon I hope that you have a happy life with full of joy and laughter._

_I hope that your father and I showed you what real love looks like and I was there to see what a handsome young man you have grown up to be. I hope each and every day that I as your mother encouraged you to be the best man you were meant to be. And, to let you know that I am proud of you and I am proud to be your mother. Harry my son. If I was not around to say it, I love you, I loved you from the day I knew you were within me, and I knew the minute I held you in my arms. Harry, I know that you will be well looked after with your father, Sirius and Remus. If not do not worry my son I will haunt them for the rest of their life._

_There is a war between the light and the dark and you my son are the target. By now you know that your father and I are in hiding. There is a mad lunatic hell bent on trying to kill us. I pray my son that we make it out alive but if not, then Harry remember this; You are the light of our world, don’t you ever forget that._

_LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT_

_I Lily James Potter nee Evans of sound mind and body declare this my last will and testament._

_If his father James F. Potter cannot care for Harry, he will go to the care of Sirius Orion Black, his Godfather. Sirius, I know that you will care for my son as if he was your own._

_If Sirius Black is unable to care for Harry, then he is to be placed in care of Alice Leila Longbottom, his Godmother. Alice, I know that you will love and care for my son as if he was your own and this way Harry would have a brother in Neville. I hope that both the boys share the same bond that we had and be there for each other just like we had._

_If Alice Longbottom is unable to care for Harry, he is to be placed in the care of Remus John Lupin and Severus Tobias Snape. I know that they will watch over him and care for him, and raise him as their own. Severus, I know that we have had our moments of disagreements, but you were the first person to tell me that I was a witch; you were the first person to show compassion towards me and accept me for who I am. I am trusting you with my most prized possession my son. Sev, please take care of my son._

_I want it to be known that under no circumstance my son should go to my sister Petunia Dursley as she is not my blood relative. I have no blood relatives who are alive. I was adopted by my family at young age. I have known about my lineage for quite some time now; but I have kept it quite for more than one reason._

_Please do not listen to anyone that claims that Harry needs to be with Petunia. She is vile woman. She and her husband are bigots; they hate anyone and anything to do with magic. I fear that if Harry should end up in their care he will be abused and neglected. He will not be loved and cared for as a child should be._

_I am leaving my two most private journals in Potter vaults. Both are very important to me. One journal contains research that I have done on my lineage. I fear if this knowledge falls into wrong hands than my son would become even more of a target. Only my son should get the possession of this journal. Also, I have commissioned both mine and James portraits without his knowledge because he was against this; they would have been placed in Potter vaults as well._

_My other journal contains my research as Healer and Potion Maker. It contains the research that I have done over the years on cruciatus curse and its long-term effects. I have been creating potion to reverse its effects. Give this journal to Severus Snape; only he would be able to complete my research if it is not complete and if it is than he would be only person to successfully brew it._

_I leave this last message to whoever is taking care of my pride and joy. I DO NOT TRUST ALBUS DUMBLEDORE. There are things that I have seen that have made me question his actions. Dumbledore’s reasons do not validate his motives for greater good, I have been trying to find the truth. I fear my inquiries could lead to James and my death. The only ones I voiced my concerns to are James, Frank & Alice Longbottom. I have reasons to believe that Dumbledore is hiding something. Please find the truth and take care of my son._

_Remember most of all Harry, my son, I love you always._

_Your Mother_

_Lady Lily Rose Potter nee Evans_

_The Noble and Ancient House of Potter_

Harry was sobbing by the end of it. Dursley’s weren’t even his real family. His mother thought about everything before she had died. Even when his parents were not here, they had thought about his wellbeing.

Everyone in the room were silent when Narcissa spoke up,” I think we should contact Severus as soon as possible so that we can take care of the problem regarding Harry’s custody.”

Lucius agreed and left to contact Severus. Harry wasn’t sure about being in care of Snape but both his parents had put their trust in him; it ought to mean something. He asked Gornuk about the journals,” Gornuk, the journals that were mentioned in the will. Can I have them?”

Gornuk agreed and informed him,” Of course. Heir Potter. Farlig will take you to Potter vaults and you can take them with you. Everything else would be put under trust until you turn sixteen. You can only access two vaults set up by your parents for now; one for your education and one for your personal expense as you already know it.”

Harry already knew it, he and Farlig had have discussion about it yesterday only. Farlig came and asked us to follow him when Draco said to the rest,” You all should go wait in the meeting room; we will join you once we have retrieved those journals.” All agreed to him readily and left and he and Draco followed Farlig.

They reached the Potter vaults within few minutes and Farlig asked Harry to put drop of blood on the door of the vault. He did what he was asked to do and the vault opened; Farlig went inside and retrieved both the journal. One was black leather bound which while the other was dark green which had Lily written on it. They got back to the meeting room where everyone was waiting for them including Snape.

Snape had a scowl on his face, he had been asked to come at Gringotts urgently; no one had informed him that the Potter brat would be there. Severus was out of his depth for the first time; Lucius, Narcissa and Zaira Zabini were with Longbottom’s and Potter. What were they doing together at Gringotts of all places? He had about hundred questions but no one was answering him.

Draco strode inside the room while holding Potter’s hand; and ordered the goblin,” Gorrak, will you please perform cleansing on Severus? Before we have any kind of discussion, that needs to be taken care of.” Gorrak happily obliged and asked Severus to follow him.

Draco ordered Severus,” Don’t ask any question for now, go with him; once you come back after cleansing. You will get all of your answers.” Knowing he would not get any answer before the cleansing he followed the goblin.

Once Severus left them everyone look their places, started brainstorming ideas on what to do next with the information they have uncovered; Lucius was the one who spoke up first,” We have now evidence that Peter Pettigrew was the one who betrayed Harry’s parents but since he is dead; we cannot use this as defence to prove Sirius’s guilt. Until we find something concrete to prove his innocence; He will remain as convict in the eyes of law. And even if we can prove his innocence; he cannot get Harry’s custody; Any person who has spent more than two years in Azkaban cannot get a custody of a minor. Until we can get in touch with Remus Lupin our only option is Severus.”

Harry was toying with the binding of the journals while listening to them, Draco stepped a little closer and said in his ear,” You know, you can open it; its yours. Don’t sit there like a sulking child. Just open it and read it. You know you want to.” Harry looked a little stricken, he wanted to but somehow, he couldn’t; at least not in front of everyone, but they all knew everything about him at this point. Besides he would be the only one reading; he slowly opened the black journal which had a letter tucked in between pages; it was addressed to Severus Snape on the envelope. He put it back and close it. He turned to Draco and said,” This one is for Snape.” Then he put the other journal in his messenger bag.

Hardly any time had passed when Gorrak came with Snape in his shadows. Harry wanted to address him but he still didn’t have any idea what to say to him. He looked at Draco with such desperation in his eyes; Draco took the charge of this conversation; he wouldn’t allow his mate to be distressed over this. He had been through enough as it is.

Draco stood up and collected inheritance tests of all four of them and then gave them to Snape and said,” First read this, you will get the gist of rest of the matter.” Snape took the test and started reading one by one and when he was finished his eyebrows were gone to his hairline; it was funny to see Snape look this flabbergasted when he was always in control of his emotions and careful about what to show to the world.

Then Farlig came forward and gave two scrolls to Snape and said,” Late Lord and Lady Potter addressed you in their Last will, this is your copy.” Then he turned to Harry and asked,” Because of the unusual circumstance, I will ask you if you want to owl this to your godfather and magical guardian or not?” Harry declined and said,” No, do not owl this, if I get the chance to talk to either of them; I will ask them to visit Gringotts. I don’t want it to fall into wrong hands.”

While Harry and Farlig had this conversation, Snape was reading the will; he was almost about to fall into tears but was still holding up surprisingly; Merlin knows how though. That man was made of steel. He turned towards Harry and was about to talk to him when Draco came between them and ordered him,” I will say this once and only once Severus; I have seen how you treated Harry for the past two years; if you think that you cannot change your attitude and behaviour towards him than tell me now you can leave and won’t have to do anything, but I will not tolerate if you treat my mate poorly, never again will I allow anyone to insult or abuse my mate. If you want to stuck to your prejudice and old resentment than its your choice; I won’t hold it against you. I will find another way to protect him so that Harry can stay with us. But you have to choose and you have to choose now; so, what is your decision Severus.”

Everyone in the room were shocked with Draco’s outburst. But it was kind of expected; he had just found out that they all were taken advantage of specially his mate; while his mate had been in abusive house for the past thirteen years against his parents wish. How much he was holding back could be seen on his face; minute twitches here and there. He was trying hard not to lose control.

Harry put his hand on Draco’s shoulder, he was touched by his mate’s words. Even though they have only known that they were mates for mere hours; Draco was doing everything in his power to help Harry. Which was more than anyone has ever done for him. He was feeling lucky that he had Draco as his mate. He stepped in front of Snape and gave him the black journal,” This journal belongs to you, it was my mother’s one of last wish. It has a letter addressed to you. It might help you get closure.” Then he got back to Draco and sat down while holding his hand.

Severus looked at both of them and then at the journal; he carefully opened it and took out the letter and started reading.

_Dear Sev,_

_I know the last time we spoke was not our best moment; we have been through so much together since our childhood. But I still let my arrogance and stubbornness get the best of me._

_I knew you regretted those words immediately after you said them. I could see it in your eyes, the regret and shame all of it. I am deeply regretful for my actions; Sev we had been friends for so many years but I threw all of it away for one unfortunate comment._

_Please forgive me Sev. I wish I would have listened to you when you tried to talk to me; maybe it wouldn’t have come to this situation. If only. Alas it is of no consequence now._

_Whatever may have happened between us or between you and James; I want you to take care of Harry when we are not there for him. He will need a father figure to guide through this world. I know that you will always treat him fairly._

_I am putting this letter in the journal that I want you to have. This journal contains all of my life’s work. Use this knowledge wisely Sev. You are the only person I trust completely._

_Your Friend,_

_Lilly Rose Potter nee Evans_

_P.S Whatever you do, make sure Harry is not in care of my sister._

Severus Snape, one person who Harry had never seen showing any kind of emotion on his face was crying. Whatever His mother may have written it broke the man standing in front of him. Harry looked at Draco and then at Snape; he got up from his seat and walked up to Snape and wrapped his arms around Snapes waist and buried his face in his robes.

He didn’t know what to say to sooth the man but he could show his kindness in some manner; Snape meant something to his parents and Snape also felt the same way. Knowing that what you have believed up until this moment might not be truth can shake any person. Snape came out of his stupor and looked in to those green eyes; then he said,” I am sorry for everything that I have said in past two years. I cannot apologise enough for my actions; they were not of a grown man but of a person holding grudge against a twelve-year-old boy for something that his father did. You shouldn’t have been held accountable for what your father did or how he behaved. You are your own person but I forgot; I forgot in my own prejudice that you are just a child. I am sorry; Harry I am extremely sorry. No number of apologies can erase my behaviour. All I can do is ask for your forgiveness although I do not deserve it.”

Everyone single person in the room was stunned with the amount of emotions Severus Snape was showing in his words and actions. They all knew the man standing in front of them; he had never showed emotions; never showed any weakness; never let anything or anyone affect him, not until today, no one had seen him with this much emotion on his face. It was once in the life time opportunity for sure.

Harry looked up at him and said,” We are all but a pawn in an old mam’s game. We all have done or said something that we normally wouldn’t have. What we said or did under the compulsion spells or potions; cannot be held accountable for. Besides all you did was say a few mean words to me. I have dealt with worse. So, its alright. “

Severus took a step back from Harry and asked,” What do you mean by dealt with worse; Harry?” Harry bit his bottom lip; he did not want to repeat those words again; at least not today; he was exhausted; he looked at Draco who understood what his mate was asking he offered him his hand; Harry took it instantly and sat back down next to him. Draco put his one arm around Harry’s waist and tucked his head underneath his chin. Then began explaining to Severus about Harry’s living conditions. When Draco was done with the story Severus knelt down in front if them both; pull out his wand and cast a few privacy wards; Draco and Harry looked at him sceptically but didn’t say anything. Severus then asked Harry,” I know I am the last person to whom you would open up; but I have to ask for my peace of mind. Did those awful muggles abused you physically? I mean in any inappropriate way?” Draco stiffened promptly hearing those words; he hadn’t asked about that to Harry. He didn’t want Harry to feel uncomfortable around him. They were still getting to know each other. But hearing Severus said those words aloud; he was praying to all gods that Harry answers in negative otherwise he would go on the killing spree to quench his thirst. To hurt a veela’s mate in that way means imminent death sentence.

Harry looked alarmed but he immediately replied,” No, they would not have done anything like that, they considered me a freak, told me so quite often. They would not touch me unless it was to beat me.”

Both Severus and Draco sighed in relief. Severus put down the privacy wards. And turned to face the rest of them. He asked Lucius and Narcissa,” I understand why you asked me to come here; but still I cannot be the only person who he has left to care for him. We might have gotten past our mutual dislikes but we still have a long way to go before he or I will be comfortable with each other’s presence completely.”

To which Narcissa replied,” We know, Severus; but Sirius is on the run; Alice is incapacitated; Remus was not available urgently; you are the only person who could come here on an instant. We need to make sure that Harry doesn’t have to go back to those awful muggles. Will you please sign the custody papers, if you want than you can change it later and gave it to Remus when we get in touch with him.”

Severus looked at Harry; those bright green eyes were showing such hope; he couldn’t deny him, he nodded and turned to Farlig,” Will you please get me his custody papers?” He then turned to Lucius and said,” Make sure this news stays under wraps as long as possible. You have control over ministry Lucius; make sure no one knows this, use Fudge if you have to but this cannot go back to Dumbledore; what we have uncovered today can not go back to him; otherwise many people will die. Last time when his deeds were almost caught a lot of people had died. You all have to be extra careful. I am doing this for emergency purpose only; get in touch with Lupin immediately; and let him know about the current predicament.”

Farlig gave him Harry’s custody papers ; he filled those and signed and gave them back to Farlig and turned to Harry and said,” Since now, you are my charge, you are going to be elbows deep in study; I will not allow slacking off at all.”

Everyone laughed and Harry groaned; great just great. Now he had to work harder than ever or Snape would always be on his back. He asked him,” Sir, where would I be living? Right now, I am staying at Leaky Cauldron until school starts.” Severus answered,” If you want than you can stay with me otherwise you can stay with Draco. Wherever you feel comfortable; choice is entirely yours.” Harry agreed and said,” For now, I only want to be around Draco, since its where I feel safe. I don’t know why & how but that’s what I feel. Of course, only If you don’t mind me staying with you.” He looked at Draco with faint blush on his cheeks; Draco smiled at his mate and said,” Of course you can stay with me. Why would I mind. That was a stupid question if I ever heard one.”

Harry turned to Neville and asked,” I also want to spend more time with you Nev, I want us to have a close bond just like our mothers did. Only if you want the same.” Neville chuckled at Harry’ uncertainty, he agreed wholeheartedly,” Of course yes, hey Gran can I stay with Harry at the manor as well if the Malfoy’s allow it that is?” His gran shook his head laughing so were the rest of them; she said,” Of course, you boys needs to spend time with each other; you are supposed to protect and support each other. The closer bond you have; more it will be difficult to break.”

Blaise pouted instantly,” Well if you all are staying at the manor; then so will I. Why should you all guys have all the fun. You aren’t getting rid of me that easily.” Zaira agreed to him spending the rest of the summer at Malfoy Manor.

Everyone laughed at their antics. Things were looking better now. All depressing stuff was out of the conversation for the time at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is going to be slow build until they start school after that it will pick up its pace. Hope you enjoy this.


	5. Heirs and Princes

Goblins brought up the topic of heirship rings. Gorrak informed them,” It would be wise to give them their Heirship rings now; before someone else tries to meddle with lineage or family magics again. If the Heirships rings accepts them as their Heirs than no one would be able to change that afterwards. No amount of coercion or potions or spells can break the old families magic once accepted.”

Harry asked in general,” What are Heirship rings? And what’s different between Heirship and Lordship rings?”

Lucius smiled at his curiosity and started explaining,” Heirship rings have been part of wizarding culture from the very start. These are the rings that Lord of each house presents to their Heir. It was supposed to show the status to rest of the wizarding world. It also helps Heirs to recognise the other Heirs. It helps them in navigating through education. Knowing that you are not alone; there are other Heirs who have the same responsibilities as you can help them in many ways. It is also another way to start networking; since Lordships includes great amount of political power and control over the future of wizarding world. Tradition was to present these rings to heirs when they start their education. There is another reason behind it; Lords of different houses tries to have kids at the same time. Same age of Heirs can help them befriend each other and can also eliminate the possibilities of feuds; since you grow up understanding each other point of views.”

Zaira took over explaining next,” You see, Heirship rings shows only status of the Heirs and their standing; while Lordship rings shows the responsibilities of the Lord. When you become Lord, you are the head of your house. It becomes your duty to protect and provide for your house as well as all the house who have aligned themselves with you. In your case Heir Potter, the Patil family and Prewett family has sworn allegiance to Potter family for hundreds of years. It usually comes under Heir’s responsibility to maintain these allegiances in the future.”

Narcissa ended the discussion with,” In short, you get your Heirship rings when you turn eleven and Lordship rings when you are of age.”

Adults all agreed that best course of action was to give them the rings now. Gorrak and Farlig both brought out fourteen ring boxes each box had a family crest on them which identified to which family it belonged to. Gorrak asked,” All four heir would you please stand up and form a line in front of me.” Harry, Neville, Blaise and Draco all stand up in front of the older goblin. He first addressed to Neville and Draco and said,” We will start with you two first, one by one I would present you each box if you are accepted as an Heir than the box would open itself, once its opens you would prick your finger and add a drop of blood on the ring and then wear it. Adding drop of blood is essential that way the ring will recognise you as its true owner. Once worn only you would be able to remove it, no one else can touch these rings. Although these are only Heirship rings, if these recognise you then so will the Lordship rings. Their magic is intricately connected.”

Gorrak put one box each in Neville’s and Draco’s hands instantly the boxes opened; they both pricked their fingers and added drop of blood on the rings and then put it on their left hand. Gorrak informed them,” Congratulations Heirs, most ancient houses Vane and La Fey have accepted you as their Heirs.” This process carried on until they both were wearing four rings each on their fingers. Afterwards Gorrak addressed Harry and Blaise,” Now it is your turn please step forward.” Then Gorrak proceeded in the same method.

One by one Harry and Blaise both opened three boxes each and worn the Heirship rings. Once both were wearing three rings each Gorrak straightened himself and addressed them,” Now that all of your Heirships rings are accepted now, we will bring forth King Ragnok who would present you with your Dukedom rings.” Then he asked Farlig to summon the King.

After few minutes King of Goblins made his way through the Room. Everyone greeted the King in perfect chorus together,” May your money grows, as blood of your enemy flows. King Ragnok.” King greeted them with equal ease, “May your gold flow and riches multiply. This is quite a monumental occasion today. This will be first time where Heirship of four founders of Hogwarts will be accepted after their demise, Your Graces. It’s equally astounding that we have two Princes in our presence here. Prince Severan and Prince Pendragon; Your Highnesses. It is an honour to be present when the ancient family magics would accept their chosen Heirs after such long period of time. Let’s move forward. If you will all follow me?”

With that King Ragnok turned around and darted forward in the depth of Gringotts bank. After several turns and ups and downs later, they came across a stone wall which had something written on it but since it was in Gobbledegook no one could understand it. King Ragnok took a dagger out and sliced his palm with one cut and put his bloody palm on the stone wall, which upon contact with blood; immediately opened a passage for them. At the end of passage, they could see a vault which looked like one of the oldest vaults there was. King did the same thing again and instantly the vault door opened up. Ragnok stepped into the vault with Gorrak and Farlig to retrieve the rings.

They came back within few minutes with six chests with them. King asked the Heirs to step forward and claim their rings one by one. First, Neville came forward and Farlig gave him the chest with Hufflepuff’s emblem on it. Neville accepted the chest which upon contact opened up instantly. Neville took the offered knife from Farlig and pricked his finger and added a drop of Blood on the ring and worn in on his ring finger of right hand. Next Draco came forward and Farlig offered him the chest with Ravenclaw crest on it; Draco repeated the same course of actions and put the ring on his third finger of right hand.

Next came Blaise’s turn, he took the offered chest from Gorrak which had Slytherin emblem on it and opened it, added the drop of blood on the ring and put it on. Gorrak offered him another chest which had Severan Dynasty’s crest on it. Blaise repeated the same process and put the ring on. Lastly, it was Harry’s turn; he moves forward and accepted the chests from King Ragnok which had Gryffindor’s and Pendragon Dynasty’s crest on it. He followed the suit of his fellow Heirs and completed the ritual; and put on both of the rings.

When Harry put on the last ring on his finger; suddenly there was abrupt shift in the surrounding, without much light they could all see it clearly that the rings on the fingers stared glowing. A swirl of golden light encompassed all four of them together and faded away slowly. Every single person including the four Heirs were looking thunderstruck. No one seemed to know what just happened; Kind Ragnok suggested,” The family magic is intricately woven together; no one can understand it. Your Highnesses and Your Graces, I would like to offer my congratulations to all four of you, it seems the revolution is approaching; it is said that when wizarding world would be in need of guidance then the founder heirs would make their appearance to give them direction to a better future. No one knows if it is true or not. But of course, only time will tell.”

Everyone said their farewells to King Ragnok and they all got back to their meeting room. Narcissa immediately asked them,” This has been a very long day; I think we should all head home; we all are pretty tired after today’s accounts. I will add Longbottom’s to our wards at the manor so that they can gain access. Before four of you leave this place let me put the glamour on so that no one will be able to see the heirship rings.” Everyone agreed with her wholeheartedly, Narcissa placed glamours on all four of them and then everyone began to scramble.

Harry sighed and turned towards Neville and said,” I have to get back to my room in Leaky Cauldron and pack my stuff. Then inform Tom about my leaving, I will say that I am staying at your place until school starts.”

Neville answered enthusiastically,” Sure, let’s go. I will help you pack and then will go to my place to pack my stuff as well. Then will floo to manor.” Harry grinned at Draco and said,” I will see you at the manor in an hour.”

Draco smiled at his mate and nodded and turned towards his parents to leave.

Neville and Harry reached Leaky Cauldron and get into Harry’s room. Harry started packing all of stuff in his trunk and messenger bag, but it was taking a lot of time. Neville called his elf for help,” Rinky” with a sudden pop a young-looking house elf appeared in front of them. Neville ordered her,” Rinky please pack all of the belongings in the trunk and that bag.” Rinky bowed her head and replied,” Yes Master Neville.”

With that she started packing all of the stuff. Harry turned to Neville and asked,” Do all wizards have house elves?” Neville answered,” Not all of the wizarding families have them, but mostly all of old pure blood and powerful families have house elves. House elves shows the status of the family in our wizarding community Harry. Usually every Heir is assigned at least one personal house elf to them. Since wizards and witches can not use magic outside of school until they come of age, their personal house elf is their first line of protection. If some unfortunate circumstances were to arise and then young wizards and witches can call their house elf for protection. They also help with whatever their young masters require.”

Harry nodded along with the explanation and tried to wrap his mind around it. It was fascinating for him to learn such things about the wizarding culture. He understood what Neville was saying, if Harry had his own personal house elf; he would be able to get out of most of things that happens to him. Come to think of it, he was also a pureblood heir; supposedly he would also have help like that. He planned to ask Neville about that later.

Since Rinky was done with all of his packing. He opened Hedwig’s cage and asked her to go to Manor,” Go to Malfoy Manor and wait for me there, I will be there shortly.” Then he shrinked both Hedwig’s and Azure’s cages and put them in his bag. Both Harry and Neville came downstairs to talk to Tom.

Harry walked up to Tom and informed him,” Tom, I am going to stay at Neville’s place for the rest of the summer, if anyone asks. I don’t want to spend entire month alone in the room.” The he paid for his stay at the Leaky Cauldron and used the floo to reach Longbottom Manor

Once they reached the Longbottom manor Neville guided him into the parlour and sat him down; ask another house elf to bring some snacks and tea for him and went to pack his stuff with Rinky. Harry began to devour scones with some tea. He forgot how much hungry he was; that was to be expected, it was now almost six o’clock in the evening. He hadn’t eaten anything after the breakfast.

Sitting there, sipping tea Harry reflected on his entire day, it was bizarre to say the least. In less than forty-eight hours He had lost and found his family. He had always wondered why he couldn’t feel connected to Dursley’s; yes, they were abusive and negligent towards him, but still he couldn’t figure out why he felt like he never belonged with them. Now, he knew why; they were never really his family. He was truly an orphan; no living family whatsoever. Just like his mother. May be there was some curse on his family, that they would all end up being orphan. It was rather depressing thought; he decided to not dwell on that matter more. He was about to go on another war with his heart and mind when Neville appeared in the parlour.

Neville straightening his clothes a little, asked him,” Hey, Harry are you ready to leave? They must be expecting us by now.” Harry eagerly said,” Yes, let’s go. I can’t wait to see the Malfoy Manor. We have heard about so much.” Neville laughed at his attempt to cover his excitement by sarcasm. They were soon in the sitting room where the fireplace was located; they stepped into the fireplace; took the floo powder and both screamed together,’ Malfoy Manor.” Both Neville and Harry were soon engulfed in bright green flames.

When they appeared on the other side, Harry stumbled out of the fireplace, they both were greeted with very amusing Draco and Blaise. In an attempt to control the situation Harry glared at them and they both were throwing fits of giggles. Neville joined them too. Harry throws his hands in the air just to show his exasperation.

Draco addressed them with a genuine smile,” Welcome to Malfoy Manor, Harry Neville let me show you to your rooms so you can get settled at home and relax a little. Follow me.”

Draco led them both through the huge white marble corridor, the walls of the entire corridor were filled with huge portraits of Draco’s ancestors. They were all looking at Neville and Harry with curiosity and started talking with each other to gather more information about their guests. Soon three of them reached west wing of the manor where their rooms were located, Draco halted in between of two rooms and informed them,” Here we are, See the room on the right side is yours Harry, it has a door which is connected to my room, Neville the room across mine is Blaise’s and room on the left side is yours. Just as mine and Harry’s rooms are connected; yours and Blaise’s rooms are connected as well.” Then he called his house elf,” Dinky.”

With a sudden pop a sweet looking elf appeared in front of them,” Dinky, I like you to meet my mate Harry Potter, you will serve him while he is staying at Manor with us; you will try to make his room as comfortable as possible; he must feel at home with us. You understand.” Dinky nodded her head furiously and said,” Of course Master Draco, Dinky be doing everything master ask of her.” Then Draco turned to Harry with a sweet smile and requested him to settle down in his room for the time being,” Why don’t you rest in your room for a little while, I will send Dinky to wake you when it’s time for dinner; we have had very long and stressful day, specially you. Dinky will help you put your things away. If you need me just send Dinky to fetch me. Don’t hesitate if you need any kind of help. Okay.” Then he turned to Neville and said the same thing to him. And left them to their devices.

Neville went to his room to settle down, while Harry entered his room; He had never seen such a luxurious room ever in his life. But to be fair he had spent most of his life in a litter cupboard under the stairs. The room itself was huge, it was more than the entire top floor of Dursley’s house. There was a huge king-sized bed in the middle of the room; with creamy white bedsheets and tons of pillows. The entire room was decorated with off white and dark blue accents. There were two side tables on each side of bed which had two lamps on it. There was a huge closet space on the right side of the room with huge mirror. There was huge mahogany wood desk on the right side of the room with a comfortable chair; There was another door on the right side which must be connected to Draco’s room. Bathroom was on the left side of the room which was as big as the room. Huge bath tub on the end of bathroom, huge cabinet space with mirror, the bathroom itself was bigger than Dursley’s main room. Harry had never seen anything like that in his entire life. He was utterly surprised. He went outside in the room and called the house elf,” Dinky” With a sudden pop Dinky appeared in front of him; he pull out shrunken trunk and bags and turned them into their actual size and asked her,” Will you put away these things in the closet, I am feeling kind of taxed, I will lie down for a bit and please wake me up at the time of dinner. Thank you Dinky.”

Dinky nodded enthusiastically and answered,” Of course Master Harry. Dinky be waking you on time. You be sleeping now; do not worry I be putting everything in place.” With that Dinky started working and Harry walked to huge bed and got under covers and lied down; within minutes he was dead asleep.

On the other side of the manor Narcissa and Lucius are having a long conversation regarding today’s events. Lucius was nursing his brandy while contemplating how to move forward. He asked Narcissa,” I don’t understand the motive behind this level of manipulation Cissa; I mean to target every single one of student. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Narcissa chuckles and smiles fondly at her husband, usually people believe that Lucius is the one who controls everything in their lives, but they are so utterly wrong. She answers her husband,” You are naïve Lucius. Yes, he is definitely trying to control everyone but not by giving them potions or casting spells; he was just hiding his own handwork in the overall scheme. If any of the pureblood Heir is proved to be compromised like that than it would create an uproar in wizarding community, and every Lord or Lady will be out for his blood but if every single student including muggle born and half-blood are targeted as well. You can not single out the pure blood population. It is rather clever of him to include all of them in a lump to cover his tracks.”

Lucius sighed and retorted,” I agree, but there has to be some kind of ulterior motive behind this many years of planning Cissa. Even if we believe that he is just covering his tracks, then he is definitely trying to control the new generation of Lords and Ladies, he has too many proxy seats in Wizangamont anyways. This has been going on for more than four decades. We need to get to the bottom of this. Also have a talk with Severus, he knows more than he is letting on; he will definitely need some coxing to find out the full truth.”

Narcissa hummed in thought and agreed,” Obviously. I will have a nice long conversation with him in next few days. For now, let’s focus on our son and his mate. Who would have thought that Harry Potter will turn out to be our son’s mate?” She took her husband’s hand and said,” Lucius, I know that you have followed Dark Lord’s teaching and beliefs but you have to choose now, Draco is our only son with veela blood. He cannot be with anyone but his mate. When the time comes you will have to choose a side; I know where I will be Lucius, I will always stand by with my son. I am a mother first and foremost. My priority will always be my child. But whom will you choose Lucius, because when it all comes out; you will have to choose between your son and Dark Lord. And I sincerely hope that you would make the right decision, if not for your sake than for your son’s future. I will send a house elf for you when the dinner is served.”

With that Narcissa kissed her husband’s forehead and left the parlour to find his son, he would need her now more than ever. People keep forgetting that she was Black by blood; and for Blacks, family always comes first. She may have loved Lucius her entire life but she will always choose her son and his happiness first. Her son’s future and happiness are with Harry Potter now; she will do anything and everything in her power to keep them both happy and safe. No one will ever come between them. She will make sure of it. There are so many other matters that needs to be taken care of; but all in good time.

Narcissa found both Blaise and Draco on the outskirts of the pond; sitting on the bench chatting amicably. She approaches them,” Blaise, sweetie why don’t you get freshen up and go find Neville for dinner. I will send Draco to fetch Harry. Then we will all meet in the dining room for dinner.” With that Blaise left to find Neville and Narcissa took his place beside Draco,” Knut for your thoughts my dragon.” Draco sighed,” I don’t know, what to do mother; I want to help Harry however I can, but I haven’t got a faintest idea how to go about it. On top of it we have a history together; even if we move past all of that there are still a lot of other factors in play. Until we can remove both Dumbledore and Voldemort from Harry’s life, we won’t be able to settle in our relationship. It also affects you and father; if Voldemort is to come back than all of us will be in grave danger; I can’t choose father’s side because I have to protect my mate. I cannot ignore my instincts mother. It is so damn complicated.”

Narcissa had never seen his son resigned like this, it was her burden as a mother to understand and advise her dragon but times like this were where she would hope that Lucius would at least comfort their only child. She could only do so much; Draco needed his father’s support to make that final decision; he had already made up his mind. There won’t be anything that could sway his decision.

She took Draco’s hand in her hands and gently started stroking it,” Dragon, I know there was a little bit of childhood rivalry between you two; but son it was due to both of you being subjected to potions and compulsion spells, Give some time to know and understand each other; you both are destined to be together, chosen by Lady Magic herself as mates. If not me than trust Lady Magic’s decision, and the matter of both Dumbledore and Voldemort we will sort it as we go. For now, focus all your energy on your new found mate. Because he needs now you more than ever, his entire life has been turned upside down, Love give him and yourself some time to adjust with all of the changes. The rest will follow as you go.”

Draco could feel tension ease off from his entire body; his mother was always the voice of reason in the family. Now, that he was calm down he could understand what his mother was suggesting. His first and foremost priority is Harry’s happiness and comfort. He smiled and hugged his mother,” Thank you Mother. You always know how to calm me down. Don’t know what I would do without you.” Narcissa chuckled while embracing her son,” Go and find Harry, soon dinner shall be served in the informal lounge.”

Draco went on his heels to find his mate. He reached Harry’s room and slowly opened the doors to his room; he was transfixed by the sight that greeted him; Harry was sleeping in the middle of king-sized bed and was almost lost in the sea of pillows. His perfectly styled hair was now completely messy; his entire body was curled up into fetus position. There was a smile contented smile on his pink plush lips; suddenly Draco had to fight down the urge to kiss him. He needed to take things slowly otherwise Harry could easily reject him due to fear. For a veela to be rejected by their destined mate is as good as suicide; since Draco would lose his will to live and soon weather away due to loss of his mate. No, Draco would do anything and everything in his power to make sure Harry is comfortable and content with him. He asked Harry to wake up but Harry was still fast asleep.

He slowly put his hands on Harry’s shoulder and stated shaking him in an attempt to wake him up,” Harry, wake up. Its time for dinner. Harry Love wake up.” Harry slowly opened his eyes and soon green eyes found grey ones and Harry’s breath was caught in his throat; He had never seen Draco this up close, he could see the molten grey eyes gazing in his soul, his rosy cheeks standing out on his pale skin due to their proximity. Platinum blond locks falling on his face, oh how utterly besotted Harry was. He knew what he felt was because of spells and potions being removed, but still he wanted to move forward in this with his own accord. Just because a test said they were mates; he would not just agree to be with him, he wanted to know and understand Draco as a person before moving forward. But being around him, he could hardly deny the attraction, oh well time will tell where all of this would take them. But for now, his stomach grumbled due to hunger. He goofily smiled at Draco and said,” I am up, I am up. Sorry, I was out cold due to over exertion. I will freshen up and meet you at the end of corridor.” Draco laughed at Harry’s antics and went to find Blaise and Neville.

He found them both chatting animatedly in front of Blaise’s room. They started discussing what to do to make Harry feel better. Neville said,” You know his birthday was just two days ago; I hardly think the muggles would have given him any presents let alone a birthday party. We should throw him belated birthday party. What do you say?”

Blaise was enamoured with Neville’s dedication to make sure that Harry felt accepted. He could see how much Harry meant to Neville; just as He and Draco were like brother in arms; he could feel the same feeling when he saw Harry and Neville together. He will have to get to know Harry better; he had two-way relation with Harry, Harry and Neville were practically brothers now, and so were Draco and himself. Once they all get their inheritance, they will get mated, so Harry would become his brother in law. He would need to pay extra attention to Harry, since he was at the centre of it all. If anything were to happen to him Draco and Neville both will be devastated. He had duties towards both of them. Four of them were now practically family; he smiled and agreed with his mate,” It is a rather nice idea. But do you want him to know about the party or do we throw a surprise one?”

Draco was now almost hopping with excitement; this would be the first time where he could show his mate how much he meant to him and how he would provide and protect him. He almost screamed,” Nooooo, no we will not inform him, I want it be a surprise party, he will surely love it. We will have to go on shopping for his presents as well.” Now his mind was whirling with ideas about what to get his mate.

Harry came out of room and joined Draco, Neville and Blaise, they all started towards informal lounge where they were greeted by both Narcissa and Lucius, they all had their dinner chatting amicably with each other, since everyone was tired because of the long day they had, they all agreed to call it an early night and soon Draco was escorting him back to his room. He kissed his hand and said good night and left for his room. Harry went into his room, changed his clothes to pyjamas and soon fell into slumber remembering the soft kiss on his hand and soft words that accompanied the kiss,” Sweet Dreams Harry.”


	6. Potter Palace

Harry woke up to soft breeze caressing his skin, sunshine was coming through the open windows. He opens his eyes leisurely and see his surrounding; he comes to realisation about where he is; it seems surreal to know that past two days happened. He casts the tempus charms, it seven o’clock in the morning, time to start the day. 

He gets up from the bed and goes to bathroom to get ready for the day. He finishes his morning routine and comes out of shower. He opens the wardrobe to pick out the clothes, after a moment he picks a basic white t-shirt and dark blue denims, black jacket and finishes the outfit with black dragonhide boots. He calls the house elf, “Dinky” moment later Dinky appears in front of him, he asks, “Can you show me the way to gardens? Please.” Dinky agrees and guides him through Manor towards the gardens.

When he reaches the pathway that leads towards garden, he is thoroughly surprised; the garden seems to have all types of flowers that Harry can remembers, he darts forward on stone pathway, and at the end of the pathway seems like a seating area that has at least six comfortable looking chairs surrounding a table, on the side a fire pit can be seen. At one corner of the garden Harry sees a bougainvillea tree full of bright coloured flowers, on the opposite side there is a Japanese lilac tree with pure white flowers, surrounding the seating area; there are flower beds; Orchids, Peonies, Narcissus, Tulips, Daisies, Lilies, Daffodils so many different flowers. He has always loved gardening in Aunt Petunia’s garden, he never got to work with these many different types of flowers, but of course he can’t just work on someone else’s lawn, he asks Dinky, “Do you know who works in the gardens?” Dinky answers, “Usually, Izzy or Mistress Narcissa be working in the gardens. Master Harry.”

He nods and asks for breakfast, “Can you serve me some toasts and tea out here in gardens, I like it here outside.” Dinky agrees and apparats away to fetch some breakfast for him. After a few minutes she comes back and serves him what he asked her. He enjoys his breakfast with soft summer breeze.

~

In the Malfoy manor, all its residents and guests are waking up from their slumber. Everyone starts getting ready for the day. They all gather in dining room for breakfast.

Everyone except Harry is present for it, Draco asks, “I thought Harry was already here, since his room was empty. Has anyone seen him?” When everyone shakes their head in negative; Draco calls Dinky, “Dinky” Dinky appears in front of him wearing a sweet pink pillowcase, “Yes, Master Draco” He asks, “Have you seen Harry anywhere?” Dinky nods and informs him, “Master Harry is being in the gardens Master Draco, He is helping Izzy doing gardening. I is telling him no but Master Harry being stubborn.”

Draco dismisses Dinky and sits down for breakfast. Narcissa looks cheerful; “Finally, someone who will help me with my gardening unlike you two.” Draco and Lucius both grimaces and tries to hide their painful expression. Draco chirps nevertheless, “Not everyone likes to play in dirt Mother. Some of us do have a reputation to maintain. You know.” Narcissa gives him a scathing look and shoot a hex at him, Draco practically disappears under the table.

Blaise, Neville and Lucius burst into laughter; they all went back to their breakfast.

Once everyone is done, they all decides to join Harry in garden. When they arrive there, they are thoroughly surprised with the fact that Harry is knee deep in dirt pulling out weeds yet there isn’t a speckle of dirt on his clothes. Harry looks up and sees them coming towards him, he gets up and straightens himself up and greets them, “Good morning everyone.” They all greet him with same enthusiasm. They take their seats around the table.

Neville asks, “When did you wake up Harry, I was up at eight o’clock when I went to check on you; you weren’t there though.”

“I woke up at seven Nev, I usually wake up before six, I am used to early morning routines.”

Draco asks, “Then why were you always late in classes at school?”

Harry contemplates it, its true; he has been waking up at six o’clock for past 12 years then suddenly his routine is all over the place after a year at Hogwarts. “It must be those awful potions and spells. I really don’t know; I never thought about it that way.”

Lucius says, “Now that everyone is comfortable, we must decide the agenda for the next dew days and how to go about it. We have to inform other families about inheritance tests.” Narcissa chides, “Give them some space, Luc they are kids still, no matter what; we will handle other parents, no need to get worried. Kiddos.”

Harry argues, “No, Cissa. I think Mr. Malfoy is right. We need to plan a strategic approach to this. All the Slytherin families will be approached by you, so Slytherins are taken care of; I will contact Patil’s with a pretence to know about my heritage; which is partially true; I am also in touch with Weasley twins, Neville and his Gran will contact Susan’s and Hannah’s family since they are quite close; so Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs are also covered. Only problem is Ravenclaws, if one person from Ravenclaws knows about it than they will spread the word. But I don’t know any Ravenclaws.

If we create a proper channel than once a few people knows about it than so will everyone else; Patil twins are friends with Lavender Brown who is the main source of Hogwarts rumour mill, once she knows so will rest of our year, for upper years once Weasley twins gets word than so will entire quidditch team. Same goes for Susan and Hannah. Only problem is Ravenclaws, anyone here who personally knows an eagle?”

Everyone is gaping at Harry; in a few minutes he came up with a plan to inform entire school. Damn, He is good. Lucius thinks if he can give him proper guidance, he might become quite prominent in politics.

Neville smiles, “Yes, Harry one of Patil twin Padma is in Ravenclaw. Padma will spread the word; don’t worry.” Harry nods than goes back to his scheming, “Alright than, Neville you and me both will meet Patil’s and Susan and Hannah’s family at Longbottom Manor in next few days, asks your Gran to send them invites for afternoon tea, I will contact Patil’s , will see what they replies. And we’ll go from there.”

Draco stops further discussion, “Stop, no more scheming or plotting, I need a break from all of this; you people are behaving like its ends of the world. I’m done; If anyone needs me; I will be on my broom flying in quidditch pitch. You guys have fun with your plotting.” Then he gets up to leave and Harry stops him, “Whoa, stop right there, you have your own quidditch pitch. Where, when, why wasn’t I informed before. Wait I am coming with you; do you want to play a seeker’s game? Can you wait for me I will bring my broom in a minute?” With that he runs to his room bouncing on his feet, while everyone else start laughing.

After some time both Harry and Draco are flying around leisurely playing seeker’s game, looking for snitch.

Both Harry and Draco are on the opposite side of the pitch, circling around waiting for snitch to make it’s appearance, Draco suddenly looks past goal past on Harry side, and finds the snitch hovering around; he doesn’t want to give himself away since Harry is much closer to snitch than he is, so start circling on moderate speed; once he is close enough he goes full speed towards the snitch and Harry realised what Draco was doing, he turns around and sees the snitch, Both are racing towards the snitch head to head but Draco had advantage of seeing it first finally he catches the snitch right before hitting the ground.

Draco does a victory lap in the air, there is a big wide grin on his face which Harry absolutely fell for, He started to think that if Draco looked like this in all of their future games, he would surely lose every single one. Harry was starting to get distracted quite easily now. He shook his head and come out his stupor.

They play another few more game out of which Harry wins two while Draco wins three. Harry slowly starts to gain hight, he always loved flying high since it gave him a feeling of being invincible; whenever he was in the sky, he always felt free like a bird. Like no one could reach him while he was there. Draco joined him when he was hovering quite at distance.

He looks around and suddenly sees something in distance but cannot put a finger on it. He marches forward towards the edge of the manor. When he reaches the boundaries, he can see it clearly. It is a castle, not as huge as Hogwarts but still huge, bigger than Manor. He can see Draco flying beside him, he turns towards him and asks, “Do you have any neighbours Draco?”

Draco frowns, “Yes, but I don’t know who they are, since the first wizarding war everyone who was living in their ancestral home has put up blood wards so only the bold relatives and family members or the person who are permitted inside the wards can reach them. So even if we had neighbours unless they have added us in their wards we wouldn’t know.”

“Okay, so I guess someone is your neighbour because I can see the castle clear as day. Can’t you see?”

Draco furrows his eyebrows together, “I cannot see anything Harry. There is no castle in near distance.” He adds, “You know Harry, Malfoy’s and Potter’s had aligned themselves with each other’s family, since both of them had migrated from different part of the world. Potter’s travelled from India while Malfoy’s travelled from France; neither of them were native to Britain, which is why they were closely associated with each other. I know Father used to tell me about our Ancestors stories, I was told that we were neighbours but wasn’t sure if it was true or not. So, it might be possible that what you are seeing might be a place that belonged to Potter’s; but I cannot be sure, we will have to ask my parents about it.”

Harry turned his focus towards the castle which was in distance; for some reason Harry was feeling quite drown towards the place. There was some strange pull which he couldn’t ignore, he started moving towards the castle with speed.

Draco was following him and asking him to stop but Harry’s focus was only on the castle. They both reached at said castle’s gate and Harry got down from his broom; Draco suddenly shouts, “Harry, you utter Gryffindork, when will you stop barging like this and start thinking, you stupid moron. We are no longer inside Manor wards; would you care to explain what are you doing?”

Harry pointed at the name plate that was on the side of the gate, “Look, Draco it’s my family home. Potter Palace. I knew something was pulling me towards this place; I didn’t know it would actually be my ancestral home.”

Draco said, “It’s alright Harry, but I can’t see anything at all; I told you before it might be under blood wards, in which case since you are the last of line of Potter’s; only you can see or access it. But we don’t know what waiting for you inside; maybe we should wait for my parents before you do anything reckless.”

“I know but since I am the only who can see or access it, it is meaningless to ask someone else’s help; why don’t you ask you parents, Neville and Blaise to join us, while I try to see what’s inside.”

Draco rolls his eyes, “I know it is not much of help but I still want them here in case something goes south.”

Harry nods and then takes a step towards the huge iron gates, there is an invisible barrier between him and the gates; he can feel it. “Um, Draco do I need to do something, because I can feel a barrier around the palace.”

“Usually, blood of the line would do the trick, so just cut your palm a little and put it on the barrier.” Then he turns and calls Dinky, she appears in front of him, “Can you bring Mother, Father, Blaise and Neville here.”

Harry takes a small sharp stone from the side and cuts his palm a little and puts the bloody palm on the barrier, the effect is instant; he can feel the change and takes another step towards the gates. He opens the gates and enter the palace leaving Draco behind.

Draco sees Harry disappears in the wards and starts panicking, what if someone has put up security measures, and Harry can’t get past them. What if he cannot get back either. He starts pacing around when the rest of the gang shows up.

His mother asks, “Dragon, what are you doing here? You should be careful not to leave the manor, especially now, explain yourself.”

Draco is freaking out internally if mother is angry for him being here than she will surely lose when she hears about what Harry has done. Oh god he had worst luck when it comes to mate. Why did Harry bloody Potter had be his mate. He is going to make his life a living hell by going into all sorts of troubles.

He tries to placates, “Please, don’t freak out it is not as bad as it looks, but Harry and I were playing seekers’ games, after that Harry suddenly started talking about some castle in distance which only he could see, than he flew straight here and started talking about that it was his ancestral home. I tried to stop him but you know he is a Gryffindor; went straight inside, I don’t know what to do next.”

His mother looks livid, his father pinches bridge of his nose to reign his temper, Neville and Blaise both are looking shocked.

His mother says, “For merlin’s sake, why can’t that boy have one normal day like the rest of us. There’s always something with him.”

His father says, “Well, for now all we can do is wait for him to change the ward so that we can enter or he has to come back to us.”

~

When Harry opens the iron gates his breath hitches when he sees the actual palace, it’s nothing short of dreamland, greenery and gardens as far as he can see, in the middle of the huge pathway is a huge star shaped fountain; fairies surrounding the whole gardens.

He starts moving towards the entryway soaking up all the surroundings, the palace itself is enormous, it is three stories tall, he can see giant dome shaped terrace in the centre of palace, there are four other dome shaped towers but albeit in small size. He can see vines surrounding the upper floors, he was so absorbed in looking around that he didn’t notice when an old looking elf appeared in front him. She is wearing orange coloured clothes which looks like long robes but he doesn’t know what they are, if he had to guess it would be something traditional from India.

She squeaks, “Master has returned to his home. Welcome back Master Harry.”

Harry jumps in surprise and takes a step back, then says, “Um, hi I am Harry Potter, which you already knew by the way, yeah sorry but who are you?” He knows he is ruining his first impression but he always gets flustered when he has to meet new people who already knows him, or in this case house elves who already know him.

House elf replies promptly, “I am Tavi, I am head of the house elves, and care taker of this palace in absence of the family, it is my duty to care and preserve this ancestral house to which I belong.”

Okay, this is freaky, definitely freaky, he has never seen a house elf who can speak clearly like her, either she is different than the rest or he is hallucinating, well neither prospects sound good to Harry right at the moment, he needs back up. He needs someone else with him.

“I have a friend who is waiting for me right at the edge of the gates, if I want to get him inside how would I go about it?”

Tavi instantly leads him towards the palace, “You must change the wards, so that they can enter, I will take you to the ward room where you can change them.”

“I don’t know anything about warding and also I am a minor wizard, if I do magic outside of school, I will get expelled.”

“Do not worry Master Harry, these are ancient grounds, here no amount of tracing can reach you, you can do all the magic you like, I will bring the book about warding to you, you are the last of your line, only you can change the warding no one else.”

Harry absorbs all the information, he can do all the magic he likes, no traces, only he can alter the wards, his day just became more interesting. Tavi brings him to a huge room which has marble statues and runes etched in the floors and walls, the entire room looks like a ancient temple; Tavi disappears for a few minutes and comes back with a huge tom in her small hands, Harry immediately grabs the book from her hands and asks her, “So this is the book which will show me how to alter the wards?”

“Yes, Master Harry, you will sit here and change the wards, if you need something you can call Tavi.” Harry starts reading the huge book and finds what he was looking for, he focuses on memorising the incantation and wand movement. After several minutes he perfects the incantation and wand movement and casts the spell, “Tutela mutatio” he casts the spell several times to add the Malfoy and Neville and Blaise. Once he is done, he calls for Tavi, “Tavi” She appears in front of him, “Right I have changed the wards now can you bring my friends inside.”

She nods and calls for other house elf, a male house elf but much younger than Tavi appears she asks him to bring all the guests in the front parlour. He disappears with a pop.

Tavi guide him back to the front side of the palace, Harry asks her, “How many house elves are there here in the palace?”

She tells him that she will introduces them all in few minutes and takes him to his friends.

Harry doesn’t know what to feel about the bossy little elf, she is clearly older than the rest but he doesn’t know anything about house elves, he is definitely feeling out of depth here. He just wishes that either Neville or Draco would be here with him.

~

Draco was losing his patience little by little now; it has been half an hour since Harry disappeared behind the wards but he wasn’t back yet. He started pacing furiously, once they were back to Manor, he is going to have a serious discussion with him about his habit of going straight into troubles.

His parents and both Neville and Blaise were also looking quite worried now, leave it to Harry, couldn’t even spend one day without causing chaos, he started biting his nails to avoid anxiety, when suddenly they all felt a powerful surge of magic and barrier was down. He could finally see what Harry was talking about. So could the others.

His father says, “Finally, it seems that Mr. Potter was right Draco, this is Potter’s ancestral home. But I have never seen it before.” His mother was in awe of the palace that she was seeing, “Wow, it certainly is a palace not a castle. Kiddos lets go inside and find the trouble maker, shall we?”

They all enter the pathway leading to the palace when one older looking male house elf appears in front them, he is wearing orange coloured tunic with Potter crest in it. He bowed in front of them and told them, “Welcome to Potter Palace, please follow Rax, Rax will be taking you to Master Harry.” They all looked at the odd little elf, but didn’t say anything; they quietly followed Rax to Front parlour of the palace.

Neville and Blaise both were armoured by the gardens, the herbs and flowers, they were seeing on the grounds, some of them were not even native to Britain. They were taking in all of the surroundings; Neville had always been more efficient at herbology due to his affinity to earth element. He wanted to inspect and understand each and every plant, flower and herb he was seeing.

They all reached the front parlour where Harry was standing with another elf, Draco ran to him, “You stupid idiotic Gryffindork, do not do that ever again.”

Harry gave him a sweet saccharine smile and said, “Yes Dear” It’s so much fun to watch Draco when he is all riled up.

Draco seethes in anger and folds his arms against his chest, Merlin give him strength, he is going to murder his mate before the day is over if he keeps this up.

Harry dramatically waves his hands around and says, “Welcome to Potter Palace. I think it’s time for a little tour Tavi.”

The older elf smirks at him and takes over, “Of course Master Harry.” Then she starts showing them all important parts of the palace with a detailed description. They all follow her around the palace.

On their immediate right wing of ground floor was formal receiving lounge as well as seating lounge, formal dining room as well as informal dining space and Ballroom. On the left wing were kitchens, warding room and path to basement where pantry as well as magical gardens were located. Basement also had elaborate potions lab and separate magical garden for potions ingredients. Basement had living quarters for the house elves as well.

In right wing of second floor were several office spaces, library, study room and duelling room as well as separate informal seating lounge. While the rest of space on third floor and left wing of second floor included different sizes of rooms, there were total sixty rooms in the entire palace. Which included presidential suite, royal suite and other more luxuriously decorated rooms as well as multiple guest rooms.

On the backyard of the palace was a pond which had all different types of fishes and small creatures. The aesthetics of the entire palace were very traditional, they were all looking around like a gaping fish. This palace was surely at least several hundred years old. It was like they all had port keyed to India.

After an hour of guided tour, they all gathered in the informal seating lounge and took their places in several seats. They were all exhausted by walking around and following the elf.

Harry spoke finally tired of walking, “While I appreciate your enthusiasm for showing me around, for the love of merlin please tell me it’s over.”

They all burst into laughing with Harry’s statement, they all shared the same sentiments but didn’t protest as they were there as guests.

Tavi smiles, “Of course, Master Harry. Now I will introduce you to the rest of the house elves who are binded to most noble and ancient house of Potter.” She snaps her small fingers and eight other elves appears in front her.

She introduces them one by one, “There are total nine house elves including me, this is Rax, he is in charge of keeping the grounds and stable. Beside him is Drax who is in charge of tending to gardens and pond. Next to him are Tipsy and Nipsy, both are in charge of kitchens and its duties. Next are Trica and Baldric, who are in charge of cleaning, then there is Hoppy who takes care of laundry and lastly the youngest elf Hinky who is in charge of various random tasks.”

They all bows to Harry, who is completely out of depth. He is looking wide eyed towards Draco asking for guidance. Draco murmurs in his ear, “Tell them you appreciate their effort of keeping the palace in such impressive state, and dismiss them afterwards if you do not need all of them.”

He nods and informs them, “I would like to thank you all for your hard work for keeping the palace in such impressive state. Even in the absence of the Lord you all have showed your undying loyalty toward the House of Potter for which I am eternally grateful. Rax, Drax, Trica and Baldric, you are all dismissed. I will call you if the need arises.”

The said house elves echoed together, “Of course, Master Harry.” Then with a pop disappeared. Then Harry turns towards Tipsy and Nipsy, “Will you please bring some tea and snacks, while we have our discussion.” Both elves nodded and disappeared.

Harry says, “Hey Neville, you said all the heir must have their personal house elf, Do I get to choose or are they assigned by Lord or something.” Neville shakes his head, “No, you can choose if you want, otherwise usually head of the House and head of elves decide the most suitable elf for the task.”

Harry asks Tavi, “Well then I am in need of personal elf who would you recommend?”

She says, “Hinky is better option for you since she is quite young to handle other important tasks of managing the palace, but she is quite proficient at random tasks which is what you will need her for.”

Harry readily agrees and asks Hinky, “Is this acceptable to you Hinky?” whose eyes go comically wide and she grins, “Of course Master Harry, Hinky be doing everything Master asks.” Then Tavi turns towards Draco and asks him, “Can the young master cast the binding spell on Master Harry and Hinky?” Draco nods and initiates the binding spell and Hinky finishes it.

And just like that now harry has his own personal house elf. Then Harry introduces the rest of the gang to the elves, soon trays with biscuits, scones and tea appears in front of them. Harry dismisses Hoppy and Hinky and now they are all sipping hot tea and trying to gather much information from Tavi.

Lucius asks Harry, “I am sorry if I am crossing my boundaries, but I would like to know, this place was placed under blood wards protection for how long?” Harry asks the same thing to Tavi who replies, “This palace was put under blood ward after your grandfather Fleamont was born. Since there were only three family members your great grand father Charlus moved out of the palace and settled at Potter Manor in Lancashire. Which is considerably small than this palace; Your father grew up there, alas he moved out to Godric’s Hollow after marrying your mother. No one has been here for past seventy years. If your parents were staying here or at the Potter Manor with you, Master Harry, they would probably be still alive; no one can get past centuries old blood and family magic.”

There is a heavy silence in the room, that no one ready to break. Narcissa asks, “Let’s focus on cheerful matters for now, no need to get depressed yet again. Harry would you like to spend some time here alone, since this is your ancestral home you will find all the history regarding your family here. You can come back at Manor whenever you like.”

Harry smiles at them, “Of course Cissa, but you all are welcome to stay here, I don’t want to be alone, I want to learn about my family but they are not here with me but you are, which is more important to me. You all are my real family now, blood or no blood. You have helped me even when we weren’t on speaking terms, which is more than anyone ever done for me.”

By the time Harry is done speaking, his eyes are prickling with tears. Everyone in the room are emotional with Harry’s words. Narcissa gets up from her seat and wraps her arms around Harry, “Of course, Harry. You are my child now along with Draco, Blaise and Neville. And a mother will always be there for her children.”

Tavi asks, “Master Harry, would you like to choose the menu for the lunch for your guests?”

Harry shakes his head and says, “No, but I want to eat authentic Indian food for lunch, so any Indian food would do, I have never eaten anything Indian except curry.”

Tavi calls Tipsy and Nipsy and gives them names of various dishes to prepare that Harry doesn’t understand.

When both the elf disappears, Blaise asks Tavi, “I want to know something, how do you speak English so clearly, we have never seen any elf speak like that?”

She smiles, “No, you wouldn’t; since I was trained by my mother. Here in Britain no one actually pays any attention to house elf or their conditions or teachings, as long as they serve a family, it’s enough for them. That is not the case in India, there are more than twenty known and spoken languages in India. They try to teach their elves to make their work for the family as easy as possible. I can speak eight languages, English, French, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Sanskrit, Gujarati and Urdu. Each language was taught by my mother, who was the last head of house elves. They also give house elves proper living space as well as chance to have their own family, we are allowed to procreate and our children then serve the family as well. Our family has been serving Noble house of Potter for many generations.”

By the end of the speech, every single person was in awe of the house elf. Even the Malfoy’s were impressed by that. Who would have thought that cultural variance can make that big of difference?


	7. Wands & Cores

After spending hour and half discussing various different topics, Tavi announced that lunch was ready; they all made their way to informal dining space. Harry took place at the head of the table, Draco took seat on his left while Neville took the right side, Blaise sat next to him while Narcissa and Lucius sat next to Draco.

Tavi snaped her finger and entire table was filled with various mouth-watering dishes. Tavi introduced the dishes one by one, for starters they had kababs, bread cutlets, veg samosa, for main course they had butter chicken, palak paneer, eggplant curry with butter roti and naan, veg biryani with curd on the side, for deserts they had gulab jamun and rice pudding. By the time they reached dessert, they were stuffed.

They all retired to seating lounge, to decide what to do next.

Harry said, “I think I will be staying at manor for the time being, once we are done with all the unfinished business; I will spend some time here with Draco, Neville and Blaise.”

Narcissa smiles, “Of course, Harry. But I think we should be getting back at manor; we need to contact other families; inform them soon.”

Draco says, “I think we should all get back to manor, we all have had a very exhausting morning. Specially Harry, come on let’s go home.” Harry agrees but says he will join in a few minutes after talking with the house elves.

He calls for Tavi, she emerges in front of him, “Yes Master Harry.” Harry informs her, “I will be going back to Malfoy manor, but I will be back before I go back to school. I have connected Manor and Palace, so that we could easily floo here. I will be taking Hinky with me of course.”

Tavi replies, “Of course Master Harry.”

Then he floos back to Manor. After the exhausting morning; between seeker’s game with Draco and finding his ancestral home, he feels drained. He decides to take a quick afternoon nap. He goes to his room and ask Hinky to wake him up after few hours. Then he literally falls dead asleep.

~

Harry spent rest of day reading books on creature inheritance and elemental cores, he had little to no knowledge in this area; he spent his evening lounging with Neville, Draco and Blaise.

He realised that Blaise had dry sense of humour and he was pleasant to be around, weird but still quite pleasant. He could see that Neville and Blaise were getting along quite well. But Draco and Harry were still at crossroads. Harry had unknowingly insulted some of Draco’s believes whereas Draco had been quite open and accepting of Harry’s opinions. Now Draco was miffed at Harry; he had apologised profusely but blond had ignored him completely saying he had other things to do and left him alone.

Now Harry had come to realisation that he had be more accepting and open just like Draco was being with him. He had to talk to the blond otherwise it would create even more of a tiff between them. So, he decided to approach him after dinner.

Harry slowly approached Draco, “Hey Draco, can I talk to you for a minute?”

Draco nods and follows Harry they reached the gardens pathway; Harry decides to take a stroll so that he could get rid of his nerves a little.

Draco asks, “What do you want to talk about?” Harry takes a deep breath and starts explaining, “Look Draco I know that I have hurt your feelings in the afternoon but it was not intentional. I was just trying to explain my point of view; I was not belittling you or anything like that. But in any case, if I have hurt your feelings; I am really sorry for that, I really didn’t mean to.”

Draco crosses his arms and glares, “Explain, you were trying to explain your point of view, were you? Merlin, Harry I know you are brought up by muggles but please do not insult my intelligence; you weren’t trying to explain anything, you were down right adamant that what you were saying was right. There is difference between being right and believing that you are right, I may have always believed that pure bloods are better than the rest of the wizarding world but I have never tried to force my own opinions on anyone else either. But you seem to think that all of us, pure bloods are prejudiced and narrow minded. Contrary to popular belief all of us have genuine valid reasons to be vary of muggles and muggleborns. Do you have any idea how many pure blood lines have died out due to muggles; or how many wizards or witches have lost their lives due to muggles. I am not saying all muggles or muggleborns are inherently evil but they fear and destroy what they cannot understand and they do not understand magic, which puts our wizarding community at risk. It’s not just that; even when muggleborns are wizards or witches they do not accept our world completely, they bring their weird traditions and festivals with them, which we all have accepted as part of truce but have they even tried to know about wizarding world’s festivals like Samhain, Yule or Beltane. Forget about them, lets talk about you once you knew that you were a wizard; Did you try to get information about the world where you belonged. I am not talking about pure blood traditions at all; I am asking you whether you tried to learn about wizarding culture at all. See the way I see it is that you accepted only one part of it while ignored the other completely. So, I will say this once and only once that it’s quite hypocritical of you to judge me on that basis at all, because at least I am being open minded to listen than down right ignore someone’s opinions.”

Harry scowls, “What about the time when you called my friend mudblood, were you being open minded than as well.”

Suddenly Draco’s face shows dark expression; belatedly Harry realised that he shouldn’t have said that, “You know Harry I only called her that because she stuck her nose in someone else’s business. Saying that I took the place in team with bribing everyone else, that was farthest from the truth. My father is not overly friendly or outgoing person; it was his way of showing that he was proud of me for getting my place in the quidditch team, as well as making sure that my or our team had better chance of winning. Since brooms at Hogwarts were in worst of conditions. But now, I am pretty sure that whatever I might say, you will always believe what you want to believe. Just a friendly advice for you, perception is a tool pointed at both at end, you can’t just focus on one and ignore the other, it would be wise to consider both equally otherwise you will end up being the most prejudiced person in the world. And please if you want to insult and demean my efforts for trying to get along with you; don’t bother talking to me at all. Good Night.”

With that he turned around and left him standing there. God, what a mess; he wanted to solve the issue but he dug even deeper hole for himself. There was no way Draco would listen to him now. He had to ruin everything yet again.

He went to bed with same morose feeling but he knew that sleep would elude him until he could sort out the mess that he had made, so he tossed and turned on his bed, but couldn’t sleep. He wished there was someone whom he could talk, an adult; suddenly he remembers his mother’s diary. He takes it out from his bag and settled down at desk and starts reading.

He tried reading his mother’s diary for a few minutes but could not concentre, he realised what he had done. He groaned in frustration; he knew there was no way Draco would forgive him this time, first time he had insulted his opinion unknowingly but the second time he had done it out of pettiness; he put the diary back in bag and went to bad yet again, and tried to sleep it off.

~

Harry woke up feeling restless and jittery, but he knew he had to make some kind gesture towards Draco or else this would create rift between their already strained friendship. He gets up to get ready for the day.

He pulled out dark green turtle neck and grey trousers and put it on, he finished his outfit with black leather shoes and watch; after getting ready he called for Dinky, elf appeared in front of him, “Dinky, do you know what Draco likes for breakfast?”

Dinky’s face visibly brightened with the prospect to appease her master, “Of course, Dinky be knowing everything Young master Draco liking. He likes eggs benedict, French toast with expresso coffee and master be liking croissant when young master be sad or angry, do master Harry be needing Dinky to make breakfast?”

Harry smiles forming a plan in his head, “Yes, Dinky can you prepare all of Draco’s favourite breakfast; add some of his favourite chocolates on the tray as well, and bring it here to me.”

Then he calls for Hinky, “Hinky” She appears in front of him, “Hello, I need you to bring me some white roses from the palace, and also some pink and yellow one as well.” She promptly agrees and left with a pop.

Hinky appears in front of him with basket of flowers he asked, he takes the roses and starts working on removing their thorns and creating a perfect bouquet for Draco, then he asks Dinky for a vase to place them.

He gets up and takes some parchment and starts writing, he knows that if he opens his big mouth again it will only get worse; he needs to let the past go, Draco had been nothing but supportive and accommodating towards him in the past few days. While he had put his foot in his mouth on more than one occasion.

_Dear Draco_

_First of all I would like to apologise for my insensitive behaviour last night, all I wanted was to sort out the differences between us but I only made things worse, I am extremely sorry that I have been judging you on your past actions without knowing the actual truth or reasoning behind it._

_If you would forgive me than I would like to start our friendship again on a clean slate, no prior judgement or prejudice whatsoever; that way I can get to know and see the real you._

_Please accept these flowers as token for my change of heart, white roses to show my genuine remorse for my insensitive words, pink roses to show appreciation for your efforts and yellow roses to show our new friendship._

_I hope you will give one chance to prove that I really do mean all the words in this letter._

_Please enjoy your breakfast in bed._

_Yours_

_Harry Potter_

_P.S Dinky and Hinky helped me arrange all this._

Then he took all the things with him to Draco’s bedroom and set it up on the side table of the bed; glanced one look at Draco who was looking like an angel while sleeping, and left to go downstairs.

~

Draco wakes up with a groan and flap back in bed trying to sleep again; when he cannot he slowly pull down the covers and sat up on the bed. Out of the corner he sees a tray with his favourite breakfast on statis charm and a note with a beautiful rose bouquet.

He instantly knows that this is Harry’s doing, he takes the note and reads it. He was furious at Harry for yesterday; he had tried to be accepting and helpful towards him despite their past differences but Harry had thrown insults on his face rather than being cooperative with him.

He didn’t want to forgive him this soon; he wanted him to grovel at his feet for some days before he gives him a chance, but they didn’t have the luxury to waste time on such fights; soon school will start and they won’t get much time to spend with each other. They both needed to start anew without the past baggage.

The note is sweet and thoughtful gesture, he gets up and finishes his morning routine and put his clothes on for the day and then sits down at bed to have breakfast; he never eats anything in bed; it is ill-mannered for a pureblood like him to eat like a heathen in bed; but it was first caring action of Harry towards him; he didn’t want to undermine his efforts so he did what he was asked to do. Frankly, he did realise the appeal, it was relaxing. No table manners to adhere, no restrictions of any kind, he liked it but would never be comfortable doing it on regular basis. He finishes his breakfast, savouring every last bite of it and then goes down to meet everyone else.

Everyone was seating at dining table and having breakfast chatting amicably, seeing him coming his mother asks, “Why are you late for breakfast, Dragon? we are almost done.”

He rolls his eyes and says, “I got special treatment mother, I had my favourite breakfast in bed with some wonderful flowers and chocolates.” He smirks and shot a glance at Harry; who tries so hard to ignore the conversation while blushing and focuses on his breakfast.

Everyone understands underlying meaning of his sentence, Narcissa chuckles, “Oh dear, how lovely, you know dragon, Lucius used to make such loving gestures when we were courting back in the day. I guess now that we are older, he no longer holds interest in me.” She sighs and gets up from the table and dramatically leaves the room.

Lucius looks at his son and then his wife and then shakes his head, “Woman, I have no idea how to handle your mother even after so many years, be grateful Draco that you have male partner instead of woman.” Draco counters, “I don’t know father, to me seems like all relationships takes time and efforts from both the party. For now, I think you should take mother out for the day, before you end up sleeping in the guest bedroom.” Then he snickers, his father abolishes him, “Draco, you will leave our relation to ourselves and focus on yours, thank you for the advice though.” Then he also gets up follows mother, he has some grovelling to do. Draco lets out full belly laugh upon imagining the mental image if his father’s grovelling.

All four teens end up in Manor Library doing either homework or research. Harry goes up to his room and bring his books in the study and settles on desk to work.

An hour has passed when both Lucius and Narcissa appears in front of them and Lucius informs them, “Boys, we are going to Château la Marseille for the rest of the day, if you do need us fire call us, but inly if there is an emergency; otherwise please refrain from disrupting our day.” Narcissa smiles and hangs on her husband’s arms; they turned and left them to their devices.

Once they left all four boys looks at each other and end up roaring in laughter; Blaise hiccups and says, “Merlin, Draco your father is terrified of your mother isn’t he!”

Draco smirks, “If you were in his place you would be terrified of her too, don’t forger her maiden name Blaise, she is Black by blood; she always gets what she wants. I doubt she will let father out of her site for the rest of the day.”

They all fell into compliable silence and starts working on their homework.

Blaise is helping Neville with his potions texts and Draco was working on her transfiguration work while Harry was working on her charms assignments.

They worked on their homework all morning while chatting; when few owls started tapping on the window, they all got up and took the letters addressed to them.

Neville informs, “Oh Harry, look Susan and Hannah are coming tomorrow with their family for afternoon tea at Longbottom Manor.”

Harry replies, “Patil’s also have accepted my request for meeting them at Longbottom Manor tomorrow as well. It seems that tomorrow would be quite productive day indeed.”

Draco adds, “Theo, Pansy, Daphne and Astoria informs that their parents are meeting my father tomorrow as well.”

Blaise looks up from the letter and adds, “Oh its from my mother, nothing new just asking how we are doing.”

When Dinky informs them that lunch is served, they all move towards dining room for the lunch. They are all eating while chatting and discussing what to do tomorrow and how much information to give other about their inheritance.

They all retire to library yet again and start working. Harry tired of his homework decides to read the books that he bought about creature inheritance and elemental cores.

Abruptly he gets up and runs to his room, while others are watching; Blaise asks, “What happened to him suddenly?” Draco and Neville shrugs and went back to their work, Blaise informs Neville, “We are going for shopping tomorrow with my mother, do you want me bring something on your behalf since you will be busy with your gran and Harry.”

Neville gives him an appreciative smile, “Yes, Harry loves quidditch so I was thinking of getting him, dragon hide gloves and merchandise from puddlemore united which is his favourite team.”

Blaise nods and agrees to buy it tomorrow. Harry comes with a journal in his hands, takes his seat again and starts reading frantically, after what seems liked half an hour he jumps and almost shouts, “Hey guys, we need to buy new wands as soon as possible.”

Neville, Draco and Blaise give him sceptical looks, so he explains by reading from the books, “Listen to this, ‘ _Creature inheritance used to be big part of wizarding world, since many of the wizarding families had some kind of creature blood in them. But as time passed by, the creature blood got diluted and due to this; now there are only handful of people who get creature inheritance. The first thing this wizards or witches need to know is that even after having their inheritance, it doesn’t make them creature completely. They are as much as of wizard or witch like the rest of them, but their creature blood gives their magic boost. Their wands needs be custom made according to their creature inheritance. They must have a wand which can comply with both wizard/witch and creature equally, which is why most of the time their wands need to have duel cores.”_

See we all have creature inheritance so we all need new wands. And its not just that listen to what my mother found, ‘ _Harry first thing you need to know is that, never trust the wand that Ollivandor might have sold to you, all the wands made by Ollivandor’s have built in trace in them, which is how they control muggleborns use of magic. You must visit his brother Loise Ollivandor’s shop in Knockturn Alley, he sells custom made wands and also have wide varieties of cores and wood to offer unlike Ollivandor. Make sure your all muggleborn friends knows this.”_

When he looks up from the journal, all three of them are looking at him with shocked expression, which frankly speaking he is getting quite used to. He rolls his eyes.

Draco agrees, “Right than, we will visit Knockturn Alley tomorrow, and buy new wands. I will talk to father and mother and see if one of them can accompany us there.”

Neville chirps, “I think it is for the best, especially considering that I am using my dad’s old wand. It never really worked for me properly.”

Blaise gives him quizzical look, “Why are you using your dad’s old wand? Don’t you have your own?” Neville shakes his head, “No, my gran gave me my dad’s wand, she wants me to be like him; brave and courageous. I don’t think I can be like him, most of the time I am scared of something or someone.”

Blaise takes his hand in his hand, “You are not your dad, we all can have some qualities of our parents but at the end of the day we are our own person. You have your own personality, let it shine through; don’t worry about your gran if she loves you, she will accept you for what you are rather than forcing you to be someone you are not.”

Harry nods and adds, “Yes, Neville. You need to let go of your fear, you need to stop worrying about what other people will say about you or your hobbies, you have to accept yourself as you are and only than others will do as well. Just be yourself; all three of us accept you just the way you are. Don’t worry. We’ll never judge you or abandon you; you are my big brother you know. There is no way you can get rid of me; you are stuck with me forever.” Neville gives a heartily chuckle and Harry and Blaise feel a little bit lighter.

Draco stands up and comes up to Neville, “I would like to apologise for my appalling behaviour; even though most of it was caused by potions, I still feel responsible for some part of it.”

Neville smile, “It’s alright Draco, it was never your fault, my fear was also caused by those potions as well, but it will take me a little bit time to get used to the changes.”

They all plan for tomorrow’s outing; they agree that they will visit the knockturn alley after breakfast with Narcissa, after which Neville and Harry will pick up some of Harry’s stuff while Blaise and Draco will leave with Zaira for their shopping spree.

They all spend rest of the evening in quidditch pitch, where Draco and Harry are playing seeker’s game again while Blaise is giving Neville flying lessons.

Soon it’s almost time for dinner when Lucius and Narcissa arrives, all teens informs them about their productive day; Narcissa agrees on taking them to Knockturn Alley. They all eat dinner and retires for the night being exhausted.

~

Next morning Manor was bustling since they all had different tasks to follow through. They all were showered, dressed and ready to take on the day; they met in dining room for their usual breakfast routine.

Harry was dressed in dark green formal shirt and black trousers with back Italian leather shoes, while Draco was wearing white formal dress shirt with black trousers and black shoes. Blaise was wearing black shirt with khaki trousers and Neville was wearing burgundy button-down shirt with beige trousers, formal wear seemed to be the theme for today’s outfits.

Narcissa looked at all of them appreciatively, “Oh wow, don’t you all look nice in formal outfits. They look so cute together don’t they Lucius.” Lucius hides his smirk and vaguely agrees why all four of them shouts indigently that they are not cute.

They all finish their breakfast and then get ready to leave at around eleven in the morning. Narcissa asks them to stand in line, “Alright I will cast glamours now, so that no one can recognise you, once you get your custom wands, I will teach you the spell, so that you can cast on each other.” She went ahead cast glamours, once they were ready; they all appeared to Diagan Alley, they make their way on the knockturn alley, where the shop was located.

They soon reached the shop of Loise Ollivandor’s called Wandmaker’s. Once they entered the shop the glamours collapsed, the owner greeted them, “Good Morning, Lady Malfoy, apologies but wandmakers need to know which wand had been sold specially to whom, that’s why your glamours did not last. How may I help you today?”

Everyone gave him a sceptical look but Narcissa narrowed her eyes, “First and foremost you will take wizard’s oath not to repeat anything to anyone regarding our visit and its details.”

Loise stared at them for a moment then said, “Very well than, I Loise Alexander Ollivandor, swear on my magic to abstain from any communication involving Lady Narcissa, Heir Malfoy, Potter, Zabini and Longbottom’s visit and their purchase.”

Harry steps forwards, “We are here for custom made wands. All four of us need new wand.” Loise informs, “Well than roam around the shop, find the woods and core than resonates with your magical cores and bring them to me.”

All four boys started moving around to find the wood, Blaise found his wand wood first than Neville and Draco, Harry was the last one to find his wand wood. They soon started searching for their cores which took more time since they needed two cores, Harry couldn’t find his core on the front of the shop, so he started moving in the back of the shop where he felt a pull towards an ancient looking desk his hand roamed on the last drawers, he opened it picked the core that called out to him, than he moved to find another which seemed to come to him quite easily once he found the first one. He put both the core and wood in front of Loise.

Just like Harry; Draco, Blaise and Neville had difficulty finding their first cores but once they found it the second came to them easily. They all placed it on the front desk in front of Loise.

Loise seemed to have lost his speech for a moment; he looked at the materials in front of him and then at the young wizards, he shook his head and came out of his stupor. “It has been years since I have made duel cored wands gentlemen; it seems change is approaching. Now would like me to explain your cores and wood affinities.”

When all four of them shook their heads in confirmation he started explaining, “We will start with Heir Zabini here, you wood is Hazel; Hazel wands often reflects it’s owner emotional state, and works best for the master who understands and can manage their own feelings; it is capable of outstanding magic in the hands of skilful master, it also has affinity towards water, it can detect underground water streams, wells and concealed springs as well. Your wand cores are mermaid hair and thunderbird feather, mermaid hair does well with potions and thunderbird feather does well in transfiguration and arithmancy. This particular mermaid hair was given by chieftain Ahtunowhiho decades ago; it seems you have affinity towards water.”

“Heir Longbottom your wand wood is Chestnut, chestnut wands prefer wizards or witches who are skilled tamers of magical beasts and those who possess great gifts in Herbology. It has affinity towards earth, and its master are natural fliers as well. Your wand cores are fairy wing and fwooper feather; fairy wings show strength in herbology while fwooper feather core does well in care of magical creature and charms. Both cores have affinities towards earth as it has grounding effects on the witch or wizard.”

“Heir Malfoy your wand wood is Hawthorn, hawthorn wands are mostly suited for healing magic and charms; it can also be adept at curses; it has been generally observed that the hawthorn wands seem most at home with a conflicted nature or with a wizard who is passing through great turmoil. Now you have Veela feather and unicorn tail hair as your core, what is most fascinating is that the veela feather that resonates with you is the last feather willingly given by an original veela centuries ago. Usually only veela hairs are used as wand core; veela feather cannot be taken from any veela without permission unlike veela hair. Veela hair or feather core are quite temperamental, but with unicorn tail hair it will balance your wand core flawlessly.”

“Heir Potter your wand wood is Ebony, ebony wands have an impressive appearance and reputation, being highly suited to all manner of combative magic and to transfiguration. This type of wand is happiest in the hand of those with courage to be themselves. The ebony wand’s perfect match is one who will hold fast to his or her beliefs, no matter what and will not swayed lightly from their purpose. Your wand cores are phoenix tail feather and dragon heartstring; it is astounding that both cores are interrelated; phoenix and dragon balances each other out. The dragon from which this heartstring came was bonded to the phoenix that gave this tail feather. Both these cores are at least centuries old. Phoenix core is known for its power and shows strength in defensive magic as well as runic magic whereas dragon heartstring core leans towards transfiguration and charms. Both these cores complement each other flawlessly.”

“Now that cores and woods are selected; you need to choose gems that will ground your wands to your magical cores. Same process as before roam around over that shelf and find your gemstones.”

All four teens started hovering over the tall shelf to find their gemstones. They found their gems without any delay and presented to Loise; Who began explaining each gemstone.

“Heir Zabini You have chosen green sapphire; they bring calmness and positivity; they also help in healing and potions. Heir Longbottom has chosen lemon quartz gemstone; they help broadening wizards’ horizon also makes person more open and hopeful for changes. Heir Malfoy has chosen swiss blue topaz; it enhances the wizards’ creativity and communication skill; it also helps by removing negative thoughts and reducing stress. Heir Potter has chosen ruby gemstone; it protects the wizards from sorrow and disasters; it also helps by reducing temper of the wizard.”

“Now that is out of the way; The wands will be ready by the evening; you can collect them at around six o’clock.”

Narcissa asks, “How much for the wands Mr Ollivandor?” He replies, “It will be five hundred and twenty gallons, you can pay half right now and other later at the time of delivery.”

Narcissa says, “It’s quite alright, we will pay right away.” Then pay entire amount. Neville says, “We need to get going, we still have some stuff to pick up before we leave for Longbottom Manor, we’ll meet you guys at dinner tonight.” They all agreed and left on their separate ways.

~

Neville and Harry went straight to Twilfitt and Tattings to pick up Harry’s trunk and once they picked it up, Harry dragged Neville to Westwood’s wizarding fashion.

Neville asks, “What are we doing here Harry?” Harry smirks, “We need to give you a new look; Blaise sure care about you and I have also seen the way he looks at you but that doesn’t mean we cannot do something about it; we will make sure that he doesn’t look at anyone but you. Let’s go”

Neville stutters but Harry literally drags him in the store; going from one rack to another, Harry picks a lot of outfits for Neville and then send him to try it out and he waits outside for him. Neville tries everything one by one; both of them chooses quite a few outfits and they decide to purchase them with some shoes and accessories.

Once they are done with shopping, they decide to head to Longbottom manor; they reach Leaky Cauldron and floo to Manor.

They are greeted by Neville’s gran, “Welcome to Longbottom Manor Heir Potter” Harry grins, “Thank you Regent Longbottom but please call me Harry.”

They decide to have light lunch and have discussion about what they have been up to at Malfoy Manor. Harry tells her about finding Potter Palace and custom-made wands, shopping. They spent much of their afternoon discussing the meeting.

Soon Blippy the house elf appeared in front of them and informed them that their guests had arrived and were waiting for them in the parlour.

Harry, Neville and his gran arrived at the parlour, Neville introduced him with Lady Amelia Bones and her niece Susan Bones; Lady Abbott with her daughter Hannah Abbott, Lord and Lady Patil with their daughters Parvati and Padma. After the introductions Regent Longbottom took charge of the meeting.

She addressed their curiosity, “We have asked all of you here for some specific reasons but before we inform you about them all you must give us your word that this information will not go into the wrong hands.” Everyone agrees readily; no one wanted to be on the wrong side of Augusta Longbottom’s anger. Then she began their story.

“A few days ago, Heir Potter asked me and my grandson for private meeting at Gringotts; when we went there, we were met with couple of surprising discoveries. You see Dumbledore has been trying to control the students with potions and compulsion charms. At first, we thought it was just about Harry but three other students including my grandson Neville was given the same treatment. Which led us to believe that every single student in Hogwarts has been subjected to them via food. The only reason we asked you to come here was to inform you about these. I will suggest that all of you take inheritance tests done by Goblins and go through purging process; these has been going on for more than four decades so I would suggest that parents go through purging as well.”

Amelia Bones, Lady Abbott and Patil family were shocked upon hearing these. Amelia asks, “Even if it is true Augusta; that is quite an accusation you have placed; do you have any proof to back it up.”

Neville got up gave his inheritance to Amelia Bones to read. After reading the test her eyebrows went to her forehead. “Alright I see, we will take our wards for the purging; but I sense there is something more to the story with Heir Potter.”

Harry sat up straight, “Yes Lady Bones, this whole mystery came to light because of my lucky trip at Gringotts; but you are quite right; you see when we went there; I got to read my parents last will and we discovered that my godfather the infamous Sirius Black is actually innocent but since the person who was responsible for the crimes is dead; we cannot prove my godfather’s guilt. I would like to know more about my godfather’s arrest and imprisonment; I wish to help him get pardoned if possible.” 

Lord Patil asks, “Wait, you only heard your parents will a few days ago, how is that possible; usually in case where there is a child involved; the will is heard after the funeral of the deceased to know where and with whom their child would grow up.”

Harry informs, “That might be true but Dumbledore has been trying to control my life even before I was born; he was the one who sealed my parents will as Chief Warlock. So’ if you will please give me all the details that you have regarding the arrest of my godfather, I would be much obliged. Lady Bones”

Amelia sighs, “There is not much to tell Heir Potter, when your parents died, everyone knew that your godfather betrayed them so when he was apprehended after blowing up the street and killing eleven muggles, they decided to skip the trial and throw him into Azkaban since then he was imprisoned there only a few days ago he has broken out of Azkaban.”

Harry paled, “He didn’t even get a trial; even if he was guilty on all counts; he should have gotten a fair trial.” Everyone looks at anywhere but at Harry, they all know what he is saying is true, Harry demands, “Lady Bones, I want your word that if and when I meet my godfather; should I convince him to appear in front of Wizengamot you will make sure that he is given a fair trial at the very least.”

Amelia instantly agrees, “Of course Heir Potter, I give you my word that I will try my utmost to provide a fair and just trial for one Sirius Orion Black.”

Neville takes hold of conversation, “Alright the other reason we asked you to meet was because we want to make sure that every student has been neutralised before he or she joins Hogwarts when the term starts.”

Susan grins, “Don’t worry Nev, I will make sure each and every Hufflepuff is given warning and will also help you anyway we can during the term.”

Padma joins, “I will inform all the Ravenclaws that I know, they will inform the rest, don’t worry you guys you have done your part now will take care of the rest.”

Parvati agrees, “Me and Lavender will make sure that every single Gryffindor is informed about this.”

Neville and Harry both looks relived, everything is going according to plan. Harry suddenly remembers, “Lady Bones, you work in Ministry right, is there any chance you have information regarding the students who will join Hogwarts this year?”

Amelia nods, “I am working in DMLE, it’s different department; may I ask why?”

Harry hesitates but says, “I was thinking if you had the list, we might be able to request compulsory inheritance test for all the muggleborns. There are chances that they might be related to old lineage, but we cannot be sure without those tests. There chances that they might not be muggleborns.”

Amelia stares at him, “You know something about this as well Heir Potter, the question is why and how?’

Harry glares at her, “It was just a suggestion, if you cannot help me, I will find another way to make that happen. You have all the information you might need Lady Bones. I hope you will at least look into it.”

After that Neville quickly changed the topic and they all had various long discussion; Harry asked Lord and Lady Patil to have a private word with him.

Harry addresses them, “I would like to reaffirm the ties between our families Lord Patil; I also want help in learning the heritage and culture of my family. I would really appreciate if you could guide me through it.”

Lord Patil smiles, “Of course Heir Potter, it is my pleasure that our old traditions are coming back. We would love to provide you all the knowledge that you might seek.”

Harry has a lengthy conversation where he learns a lot about his family’s roots. They all join the rest of the party and spend the evening plotting the next course of action. Both Neville and Harry bid goodbyes to their guests after that they both floo to Malfoy Manor thoroughly exhausted with day’s proceedings.


	8. Belated Birthday

Somewhere in Italy 

Draco and Blaise flooed in the Italian summer house where Blaise’s Mother was staying. Zaira greeted them both in the parlour, “Mi sei mancato così tanto figlio mio, Benvenuto a casa.”

Blaise hugged his mother, “Mi sei mancato anche tu mamma. come sei stato?” She huffs, “Sto perfettamente bene. Non c'è bisogno di preoccuparsi”

Draco steps forward and kisses back of her hand, “Zaira, you look ravishing as always. You look even more stunning than the last time we met.” Zaira gives him an unimpressed look, “I thought now that you have found your mate, you will forget about me Draco.”

Draco laments, “You wound me Zaira, how could I ever forget my first true love.” Blaise sighs, “Enough with you two, we have only one day to shop and plan the party. Can we please get back on track?”

Draco glares at him, “Fine, so where should we go first, by the way you do have the list of the things we need to get right?”

Blaise arches hie eyebrows, “Of course, who do you take me for. I am most organised person you will meet. You twat.”

Zaira interjects, “We should start with Milan for all the clothes and apparels and then we will go to Paris for the rest. Andiamo, abbiamo molto da fare oggi.”

Then three of them apparated to Milan for their shopping spree.

They spent next three hours in various designers’ stores for Harry and Neville’s clothes and accessories. They stopped at a cafe to take quick bite of lunch, Blaise called his elf, “Binky”

Elf appeared in front him wearing green and black frock, “Yes Master Blaise.” Blaise showed him all of their purchase, “Take all of these things to my room in Malfoy Manor and make sure no one sees them, it’s a surprise for Harry and Neville.” Elf nodded in understanding and left with all of the stuff.

Draco exhales, “After lunch we should go to Paris and buy a few macaroons and chocolates, I know Harry has sweet tooth and a few other things that I need to get.”

They finished their quick lunch and went on their way to Paris; they spend next two hours buying remaining things on their list and then at around five o’clock they both flooed in the Malfoy Manor. They quickly retired to Blaise’s room; they both started packing all the gifts they had bought today except for sweets, with the help of both Dinky and Binky. Around eight o’clock they were done with packing and thoroughly exhausted.

Harry and Neville had returned from their meetings and were with Narcissa and Lucius, soon they all joined in the dining room for dinner, dinner was a quite affair; it seems that all of them were mentally and physically exhausted with day’s events. They soon retired to their respective room for the night.

Earlier in the day at Malfoy Manor

Once helping teens getting their custom wands, Narcissa apparated back at Manor; soon Lucius and Narcissa were greeting their guests in the parlour.

Lord Greengrass, Lord Nott Sr. and Lord Parkinson took their respective places and conversation flowed from there.

Lucius addressed them, “I am delighted to host you all at the Manor, only I wish it was under better circumstances. I have many matters that I wish to discuss with you, I would appreciate if you will bear with me until I am finished explaining everything.”

“First, you all shall give us your word that whatever we may discuss here, you will not let this information go into the wrong hands as it affects our children’s future as well as wizarding world’s future.”

They give their word instantly, while Izzy and Dinky served them with tea and some snacks. After a while Lucius began his explanation. He had decided to keep Harry’s involvement under the wraps until he could trust them, for now his son’s mate’s safety was paramount.

“A few days ago, while Narcissa, Draco and I were visiting Gringotts; some unusual situation aroused, due to which Draco had to take inheritance test. Well, results of the said tests were shocking to say the least. We came to know that Draco was given several potions and compulsion charms to behave in certain ways, not only that his family magics were blocked as well. Upon further investigation we found out that it wasn’t just Draco, several other students from Hogwarts were subjected to same potions and charms including my godson Blaise Zabini. We came to conclusion that every single student attending Hogwarts has been subjected to them. The main reason to invite all of you was to warn you; I would strongly suggest that you all take your children or grandson in your case Lord Nott to Gringotts for inheritance tests and purging.”

Lord Nott, Parkinson and Greengrass were boiling with anger; Lord Nott seethes, “Who dared to play with family magics, and with our young wards; this is unacceptable, person responsible shall be held accountable for his transgressions.”

Lord Greengrass and Parkinson agreed wholeheartedly, Lucius sighs, “Albus Dumbledore is responsible for this, also this has been going on in Hogwarts for several decades, I would suggest you all should go through purging as well. Me and Narcissa did the same.”

By now all three Lords were ready to AK Dumbledore but continued with their discussion. Soon Narcissa took her leave since she was hosting Lady Crabbe and Goyle.

Lucius asked Lord Greengrass to have a private word; quickly they excused themselves and reached garden, Lucius declares, “I know what I am about to inform you is not good news but please do understand that I have no control over the situation anymore, The tests also revealed Draco’s veela inheritance, and his destined mate; which means the marriage contract we signed is null and void.”

Lord Greengrass replies, “It’s alright Lord Malfoy, I guessed as much before you began explaining. But it is nice to be warned before it became common knowledge; I should annul both of daughters’ contracts, before something like this happens again; it seems wind of change is approaching. I would take care of it, Lord Malfoy.”

Soon they joined other Lord and were lost in their discussion of power and politics.

While on the other side of the Manor, Narcissa had the same conversation with both Lady Crabbe and Lady Goyle. Later in the evening Narcissa picked up custom made wands for the boys.

~

On Sunday everyone in Manor were assigned with multiple tasks to ensure that Harry doesn’t come to know about his surprise birthday party.

Neville took upon on himself to keep Harry busy with him so he doesn’t suspect anything. They spent entire day in either library or gardens doing work and getting to know each other better.

While Draco and Blaise prepared everything for the party. They decided to throw party in the courtyard of Potter Palace, that way they wouldn’t have to worry about getting caught by Harry.

With the help of Dinky, Binky, Tipsy and Nipsy they decorated the courtyard with burgundy and golden coloured drapes, they decorated with fairies and lanterns, they sat up a long table to arrange all the presents they got for Harry. They also sat up dining area for their dinner as well. Tipsy and Nipsy had prepared all the food for their party and special birthday cake for Harry as well.

After working for entire afternoon and half of evening, everything was almost ready for the party except now they all had to change and get ready.

Blaise and Draco flooed to Malfoy Manor, Draco asked Dinky to inform his parents to get ready for the party and went to get ready. Blaise found Neville and Harry in the Parlour and gave Neville a silent nod to tell him it was time and then left to get ready as well.

Neville says, “Come on Harry, we need to take shower and get ready, we are going someplace for dinner, don’t ask any question; just go and get ready.”

Harry furrows his brows but refrains from saying anything and goes to his room. When he enters it; there is outfit laid out for him on the bed. He smiles and picks up the note from besides it.

_I have prepared a lot of surprises for you this is first of many, put this on and get ready; I will escort you the venue once everyone is ready._

_Draco_

Harry looks at the note fondly and then grabs a towel and runs to bathroom for shower. He takes his time finishing his shower and then as usual gets ready for the night.

His outfit includes black jeans, dark grey turtle neck with burgundy suede jacket; he completes the outfits with his dragonhide boots and black watch.

Once he is satisfied with how he looks he exits his room only to find Draco waiting for him outside his room with both Blaise and Neville.

All three of them have changed their clothes as well. Draco’s outfit seems to be coordinated with Harry’s. but he doesn’t mind, it’s nice to know that everyone is making this many efforts to make him feel special. Draco offers Harry his arm and escorts him towards the parlour.

They all flooed to Potter Palace, what they are doing here, Harry has no idea. Draco leads him towards the courtyard of the palace; when they reached there, Harry’s heart leapt out of his ribcage.

Entire courtyard was filled with fairies, lanterns and lighting bugs, the pathway to the courtyard was lined with floating candles; the entire area was decorated with burgundy and golden coloured drapes. There was a huge table filled with mountain of presents and another one for their dinner probably. It was so overwhelming for him to see that his chosen family had put so much efforts to make him happy. His eyes were filled with tears, Draco cups his cheek and wipes away tears from his face so gently, that Harry feels like he is being worshipped. Draco says, “Since you didn’t get to celebrate your birthday, we decided to throw you a birthday party, it was to make you happy not to make you cry, you know.”

Harry chokes up upon hearing Draco’s intentions and he buries his face in his chest and clings to him like he is his lifeline while Draco is whispering sweet nothing in his ears, stroking his hair. Harry finally looks up and declares, “This is the first birthday party I ever had, Draco. Thank you for this and everything that you have done for me in past few days. You have no idea how much it means to me.”

Draco seethes in anger when he hears that this will be his mate’s first ever birthday party. Damn those muggles, if Draco get his hands on them; he will hex them straight to Azkaban for doing this to Harry, but even than he feels proud that he had given his mate his first birthday party. He chuckles, “Oh I know, but this was Neville’s idea, me and Blaise arranged the rest of it. Come on let’s go.”

He leads him towards dining table and ask him to stand in the middle and then calls Tipsy to bring out the cake, Tipsy brings three layered huge chocolate cake for them and set it up on the table. Neville stands to his right and says, “Come on Harry cut the cake; we are all hungry, we have been working for this all day.” Harry chuckles and he cuts the cake with chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’. Then he offers first piece to Draco than to Neville and Blaise.

They all took their seats around the table. Draco had carefully selected tonight’s menu, he wanted Harry to get familiar with fine eating especially French cuisine. He decided to explain all the chosen dishes to Harry who was sitting beside him. As each course was served, Draco introduced the dish to Harry for first course Moules farcies, baked mussels sprinkled with parsley and parmesan with baguette on the side; for second course soupe de poisson a` la rouille, for third course Salade Niçoise; as for palette cleanser lime sorbet was served.

For fifth course grilled salmon with black beans and Piment d'Espelette Mayonnaise and for sixth course Confit de canard was served with roasted potatoes and garlic on the side. To finish the dinner Chocolate souffle was served as dessert.

Harry was feeling stuffed even before he tasted the dessert but since he always had a bit of sweet tooth, he indulged himself and thoroughly enjoyed his chocolate souffle. They were all having pleasant conversations; once dinner is over Draco asks Tipsy and Nipsy to clear the dining area and leads Harry towards the presents.

They all took seats around the table and Draco informs, “First mother and father will give you presents than Neville and Blaise and I will be the last one. Okay now let’s start since you have loads of presents to open.”

Lucius comes forward and gives Harry four volumes and explains, “Here, these are journals kept by Malfoy lords about their relation with Potter family. I know you are a little bit cautious because of our previous interactions, this way you could know about both the family and their cordial relations with each other. So that it doesn’t overwhelm you. You will also get a lot of information about your heritage from outside point of view. I sincerely hope that it helps you.”

Harry accepts and give his thanks for the gifts. Narcissa gives him two different books about gardening and keeping magical garden; he accepts them readily and hugs her to show his appreciation. They soon leave all the teenagers alone and goes back to manor, then Neville shows him all the gifts given by him; Harry slowly stared opening them.

Neville gave him one pair of black dragonhide gloves, several books about herbology and one book about rare plants and flowers and their properties; he also gifted him several t-shirts, hoodies and merch of Puddlemore United and Appleby Arrows. Harry asks about Appleby Arrows’ merch and Neville gives him knowing smirk and says, “Draco asked me to buy Appleby Arrows merch.” Harry raises his eyebrow and looks at Draco who shrugs and says, “It is my favourite team; but that was not why I asked him to buy the merch, it was so that when you are at Hogwarts and not in mood to dress up you can wear this and lounge around in common room; I have several more than that, they are quite comfortable to wear.”

Harry shakes his head and goes on to open Blaise’s presents. He had given him several books about potion making and its basic skills, potion ingredients set and potion tools set to improve his skills, he also got several pair of wizarding robes in various colours of black, grey, dark blue, royal purple, coffee brown, dark green and burgundy, they were of finest silk and cotton materials, he gaped at the quality of the robes and looked at Blaise, “I can’t accept this Blaise, these are too expensive. It must have cost a fortune, seriously this is too much.”

Blaise chuckles and informs him, “Yes, they are quite expensive but not without reason Harry, these robes have self-adjusting and self-mending charms, which means even after several years, no matter how much hight or weight you gain; they will fit you perfectly. You need these robes because soon you will have to either host or attend pure blood parties. Do not worry about the cost, they are nothing compare to what your darling mate has gotten you.”

Draco gives Blaise a scathing look, “Traitor, do you really have to throw me under the bus.” Harry then starts opening the gifts that Draco bought him which are even more than he opened already, Harry whines about it, “Draco, did you really have to buy me this many presents. They are a lot.”

Draco tugs his hand and says, “Don’t give me that look; these are still not enough to cover thirteen years of gifts. Come on start opening; chop chop.”

Harry starts opening the presents, Draco gave him several books about charms and astronomy; he gave him an entire wardrobe, at least three pairs of jumpers, cardigans, jackets, trousers, jeans, shirts, pyjamas and shoes. He also gave him three winter coats and cloaks, one pair in black, one pair in dark grey and one pair in tan coloured; several pair of wool socks, scarves, hand gloves, belts, hats and beanies. He also gifted him four watches, all of which were branded.

When he is done opening all of clothes and accessories; he asks Draco, “Where am I supposed to put all of this Draco. This is too much I can’t take all of this to school, can I!”

Draco shakes his head in negative and explains, “You don’t need to take everything with you at school Harry. You can pack all of the stuff that you want to take in your trunk; and for the rest, Hinky will arrange it in your wardrobe, than we will add linking charm on both your trunk and wardrobe, this way you can easily access your wardrobe without taking everything with you, almost all the pureblood heirs does this. It is easier this way.”

Harry nods and contemplates where should he put this stuff; he is staying at Malfoy Manor currently; but he does want to stay there permanently, he doesn’t have his own bedroom anywhere; Draco taps on his shoulder and raises his eyebrows, Harry tells him, “I don’t have my own bedroom Draco, I mean I do at Malfoy Manor but it is guest bedroom, I am not going to stay there permanently, I just don’t know what to do.”

Draco smiles at his mate, “Harry, you own several different properties; you can choose wherever you want to stay, it doesn’t matter that much because you will only spend summer holidays there for next five years, you can stay here at Potter Palace; it is near Malfoy Manor so if you need us we can reach you instantly, and you have army of elves for taking care of you and anything you might need.”

Harry smiles and nods at him, he calls Hinky, she appears in front of him, “I want to stay here at palace, which room would be more suitable for me?” Hinky answers, “Master Harry should be staying at Royal suite, it is being for Heir of Potter family, once Master Harry is mated or bonded, he be moving to Presidential suite. It is being for Lord and Lady Potter.”

Harry thanks her and tells her, “Take everything here to my suite, and move all my stuff from Malfoy Manor to my suite as well. Arrange everything in the wardrobe properly and keep the books aside for now I will arrange them myself tomorrow.” Hinky answers, “Of course Master Harry, Hinky be taking everything right away Master.”

Then all of his gifts disappear in a snap of fingers, Then Draco says, “You still have a few more gifts.” Then he brings out four identical diaries and small mirrors. He gives Harry, Neville ad Blaise one of each and keeps one to himself and explains, “These mirrors have linked Siarad charms on them, all you have to do is say the name of the person you want to talk, his mirror will vibrate, as long as you have it on you, it is most convenient way for contacting each other; but when we get to school we might not get enough privacy to talk on mirrors, so these diaries will help, I have bought two sets, one for us and another for Blaise and Neville. When we need to discuss something at length, we can use these diaries, it will glow when the other write in it. Don’t worry whatever we may write in it, will disappears the very next day.”

Blaise and Neville look at him with owl eyes, they didn’t know Draco went to such length to make sure that they stay connected to each other, they both accepts them wholeheartedly.

Draco clears his throat and says, “I do have one more thing for all of us.” He brings four different bracelets, one has snake engraved on it with emerald eyes, second has phoenix engraved on it with golden eyes, third has dragon engraved on it with blue eyes and forth one has niffler engraved on it with black eyes. He gives bracelet with snake to Blaise, bracelet with phoenix to Harry, bracelet with niffler to Neville and he keeps the one with dragon. Then he explains, “I have put protean charms on these bracelets, so if you are in trouble you can tap on this and send massage discreetly to each other without getting in trouble, I also want to put port key charm on them so they can also get us out of trouble, but I have yet to perfect the portkey charm.” Then he gives Harry spectacle case and says, “This is a plain and simple spectacle for you Harry, I do not want anyone else to know about all that happened in summer, if you meet Granger and Weasley without your glasses, they will ask you million questions and we don’t need them on your case the entire year, so these are just a precaution.” 

Harry listens to his mate explains everything, he can’t even come up with a coherent reply so he opts for hug, he hugs Draco with such ferocity, Draco coughs, “Harry, please be gentle, you will break my bones if you squeeze me like this.” Harry’s faces flushes red with embarrassment. All four of them soon retires to their respective rooms and call it a night. Harry reaches his suite which is quite basic with beige and brown drapes and sheets, he decides to change it according to his tastes in next few days. Then quickly changes into pyjamas and gets under the covers. He falls asleep while remembering all the events of today with a very sweet smile on his face.

~

Next day Harry, Draco, Neville and Blaise decided to make changes to palace according to their preferences. They agreed to start with Harry’s suite first thing after breakfast. It will take a few days to make this place habitable again; food essentials would not be an issue because of magical gardens but they would need to stock the rest of the stuff, this place was unused for more than seventy years, they would need a lot of things.

One by one they visited all the rooms they needed to change, while listing all the things they would need; Harry decided to go with forest green and olive colour scheme with hints of mustard yellow. Neville decided to with burgundy and grey colour scheme while Blaise chose black, grey and white; Draco chose dark blue, grey and white colour scheme. They listed everything they would need, mattress toppers, bedsheets, pillows, comforters, pillow covers, curtains, towels and other few nick necks. Harry gave the list to Tavi and told her to arrange the things in the list as soon as possible. Tavi took Drax and Rax with her and left.

They spend rest of the time arranging Harry’s study, he had chosen the study on second floor. They arranged all of the books Harry had and put everything in place.

Tavi returned with all of the things after three hours, Harry, Neville, Draco and Blaise asked their personal elves to prepare their rooms with new stuff.

They spent next few days making the palace more comfortable and doing their summer homework. They would sometimes join Narcissa and Lucius for either breakfast or lunch. Every time they met Harry would ask if there were any updates of his godfather or Remus Lupin. But sadly, they still couldn’t get in touch of Remus, every letter written to him was returned to Manor unopened. He was getting disheartened; everyone could see that Harry was getting depressed because of this. So, three boys decided to divert his mind to other matters. They would spend most of their time together either studying or learning or getting acquainted with their new wands. They could feel that they were getting closer and more affectionate towards each other.

Draco and Blaise taught Harry and Neville, how make potions from the very basics, both Harry and Neville were now fairly decent brewer; they were not at the same level of Draco and Blaise but with practise and some hard work they will get their eventually.

Soon they were done with all of their essays and homework of all the subjects. So, they started learning about their inheritance and their duties. Susan and Parvati had written to Harry and Neville informing them that all the students from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor were now informed about potions and compulsion charms. Harry was relived when he heard this development, but he was still worried that when they get back to school the headmaster will once again subject them to the same potions. He was looking through various books and journals to find solution for the same issue.

All four of them were in Potter Palace library each reading different book; when Blaise suddenly speaks, “Merlin’s beard, we had the solution on us the entire time.” Harry, Neville and Draco stared at him so he begins his explanation, “I was reading book about heirship and lordship rings, it says here that once the heir/lord wears their rings, it would be impossible for them to be subjected to compulsion charms, potions or even imperious curse. The said rings protect them from mind magic.”

Everyone visibly relaxes upon hearing this; they were all anxious because of headmaster’s meddling. Blaise continues, “It’s not just that, when you are Lord to one or more houses you can combine the rings in one. It says that, Heirs, Heirship and heirship rings are all one. We can will the rings to combine in one.”

So, they all tries to combine five rings in one; Harry suggests, “I think we should only show the house that belongs to us, I mean Potter, Malfoy, Longbottom and Zabini. We cannot let anyone else know about the other Lordships, at least not until we figure out who supports us.” Draco is the first one who succeeds in combining five rings in one, only Malfoy crest is seen on the one ring on his finger. One by one all of them succeeds and only one house crest is seen on the rings on their fingers. They decided to inform the other heirs about getting their Heirship rings before they all start school.

~

Two weeks before school was to open, Harry got letter from Weasley twins informing him that they would meet him at Gringotts week before the school starts. Harry was grateful that they agreed to meet him before the last week of August starts.

As the days were passing, Harry was getting more and more restless. He had valid reason to feel scared, Dumbledore had been manipulating him and trying to control him even before he was born. He wasn’t afraid for himself per se; he was more worried about Neville, Draco and Blaise. Those three had become his lifeline in past few days. If something were to happen to anyone of them, because of Harry; he would never be able to forgive himself. He was the heart of the problem, from Dumbledore to Voldemort; he was what they wanted the most, he had already lost most of his family because of this, but if things progressed the same way, he might put them in even more danger just by being with them. How much more can he lose, why must they suffer because of him.

He couldn’t sleep in all of these thoughts, so he decided to wonder around in the palace. He reached gardens and started walking barefoot on the grass, cool water droplets touched his feet and he slowly exhales the breath he was holding; no matter what he decides he would be the one to lose, if he decides to distance himself from Draco, Neville and Blaise he would lose them figuratively and if he does stick with them he might lose them literally.

But deep down he knows what he wants, he wants his family, his big brother Neville; his mate Draco and his friend Blaise, all of them have given him the family that he always wanted. He might not have parents or guardian or an adult taking care of him; but when has he ever needed an adult in his life, he has been taking care of himself since he was four years’ old. Draco has taught him that it is okay to be different and unique, you shouldn’t change yourself to fit someone else’s opinion of you, if they are your friend than they will accept you for who you actually are rather than asking you to be someone you are not.

He knew that all the identity crisis that he was getting was due to sudden changes, but it was hard to ignore what he was feeling. In less than one month he had gained so much that it was getting difficult for him to accept all the things. He suddenly stops in front of magical garden and saw the plants; he remembers all four of them working on them together and throwing mud at each other just to piss Draco off, he chuckles at the memory and figures brooding won’t help him; so, he goes back to his suite and tries to sleep it off. Soon after he fell asleep due to exhaustion.

Next day All four of them got there Hogwarts letter.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards)

Dear Mr Potter,

Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King’s Cross Station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o’clock.

Third-years are permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade at certain weekends. Please give the enclosed permission form to your parent or guardian to sign. A list of books for next year is enclosed.

Yours sincerely,

Professor M. McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

List of books for third-year students

  1. The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3 By Miranda Goshawk
  2. Unfogging the Future by Cassandra Vablatsky (If attending Divination)
  3. Intermediate Transfiguration by Emric Switch
  4. The Monster Book of Monsters (If attending Care of Magical Creatures)
  5. Numerology and Grammatica (If attending Arithmancy)
  6. Home Life and Social habits of British Muggles by Wilhelm Wigworthy (If attending Muggle Studies)
  7. Spellman’s Syllabary (If attending Study of Ancient Runes)
  8. The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts by Arsenius Jigger



Harry groaned outwardly, he wanted to nap all day, but now he won’t get to skive off. Then all four of them got into discussion about which elective subjects to take. Never a quite day around Potter Palace it seems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italian to English Translation  
> Mi sei mancato così tanto figlio mio, Benvenuto a casa.- I have missed you so much my son, welcome home.  
> Mi sei mancato anche tu mamma. come sei stato?- I missed you too mom. how have you been?  
> Sto perfettamente bene. Non c'è bisogno di preoccuparsi.- I'm perfectly fine. There is no need to worry  
> Andiamo, abbiamo molto da fare oggi.- Come on, we have a lot to do today.  
> I have completely changed the base of this fiction from J.K Rowling's original works. In this Fic Crabbe and Goyle Sr. died during a death eater raid in first wizarding war while Nott Sr. got arrested and sentenced to Azkaban for life. Theo was raised by his Grandfather and uncle.


	9. Properties & Duties

Potter Palace

Draco, Harry, Blaise and Neville are sitting at dining table while having their breakfast and continuing their discussion of subjects.

Draco says, “If I have to choose than it would be Arithmancy, Care of magical creatures and Divination; actually, I want to take all of electives. I want all twelve owls, but it hardly seems practical.”

Harry chuckles, “I want the same Draco, but we cannot attend all the subjects; if I have to choose then it would be Study of Ancient runes, Care of magical creature and Arithmancy.”

Neville adds, “I don’t think I will be proficient at all subjects; I will take Care of Magical creatures, Divination and Muggle studies.”

Blaise hums, “I am choosing Arithmancy, Study of Ancient runes and Care of Magical creatures. I don’t think I will take all the subjects.”

Harry raises an eyebrow in question, “Guys, you do realize we can only take two electives, we all have chosen at least three that we want to attend. We need to discuss this with Professors to know if it is even possible at all. Let’s finish breakfast and visit Malfoy Manor, we can ask Draco’s father about it, he is on the board of directors of school. He might be able to answer us. We also need to ask them about going to Diagon Alley.”

They all agreed and finished their breakfast in silence and went to their rooms to get ready. Harry was rummaging through his wardrobe; he had gotten so many things in last month that it was impossible for him to look through all of them. He calls Hinky, she appears in front of him. He asks her, “Can you bring me green shirt and black trousers, I cannot find them; after that please arrange the wardrobe by colors so I can easily reach what I want.”

Hinky answers and after few seconds brings him his clothes, he changes into them quickly, put on his black dragonhide shoes, wand holster and black watch. The dragonhide shoes were quickly became his most favorite thing to wear, they were very comfortable and stylish as well. He takes his black messenger bag and exits the room.

When he reaches the parlour, he meets everyone else and they all flooed at Malfoy Manor. Izzy receives them at the Manor and takes them to study where Lucius and Narcissa are sitting and having a quite discussion. When they see them entering the study, Narcissa gets up and hugs the boys and asks, “What a pleasant surprise, boys. What brings you here, as far as Draco has informed me, you all were going to spend next few days being lazy and doing absolutely nothing. So, what gives.” Everyone takes different seats around the study.

Draco shakes his head, “We just received our Hogwarts letters mother. We all want to take more than two subjects and we are only allowed to enroll in two. So, Harry suggested we asks father if it was possible to take more than two subjects or not.”

Lucius answers, “Of course it is possible, but you will have to self-study and askes the professors for notes regarding the subjects which classes you cannot physically attend, but for that you will have to ask for permission from head of your houses. So, who is taking which subjects?”

Then all four boys went into lengthy explanation of which subjects they would take. Lucius was surprised to hear that both Draco and Harry had decided to take all of subjects, it will definitely be challenging for both boys specially since both of them are in their respective quidditch teams as well. It will be a hectic year for both boys it seems. He needed to discuss the Hogwarts situation with them, but how to approach the topic.

Harry suddenly brings up related topic giving him a chance to inform them. Harry asks Narcissa, “Can you ask Professor Snape to meet us, we need to get signatures on our Hogsmeade visit permission slips. I know I cannot go, since we cannot inform anyone about him having my guardianship, but I need to inform him nevertheless.”

Narcissa fire calls Severus and asks him to meet them, he agrees to meet for dinner that very day. Lucius informs them, “There is another matter that I need to inform you, it concerns your returns to Hogwarts. There is no way of saying this but you all need to be careful while staying at Hogwarts this year since it is even more dangerous for all of you, because of Sirius Black’s escape; Minister Fudge has been livid and terrified. He had assigned the dementors as guards at Hogwarts to recapture Sirius Black. Dementors are foul creatures, they do not differentiate between an innocent and a victim or prisoners. Please be careful, do not give dementors any reason to come anywhere near you.”

There is deathly silence in the study room. Narcissa almost screams, “Dementors, really Lucius, that too around school full of children. I swear Fudge has completely lost his marbles. Wait till I inform the rest of the parents. They will have his head for this Lucius; I will not tolerate Fudge’s foolish attempts to show his prowess, especially when it can cause harm to my children.”

Harry asks, “I am sorry but what are dementors?” Everyone gapes at him, he sheepishly lowers his head, when Draco explains, “Don’t worry, we sometimes forget that you were not raised by wizards. Anyways, Dementors are creatures who guards the Azkaban. They feed on human happiness and thus generate feelings of depression and despair for those who are in close proximity to them. They can also consume a person’s soul and leave them in vegetative state.”

A shiver ran down Harry’s spine, such foul creatures should not be allowed anywhere near castle full of children, what was Fudge thinking, what was Dumbledore thinking; how in the merlin’s name the rest of the professors agreed to this.

Blaise asks the same, “But how could the other professors agree to this. I am pretty sure Professor Snape wouldn’t have.”

Lucius sighs and tells them, “Fudge vetoed and declared it was for their own protection from Sirius Black. Trust me boys; I tried to change his mind about dementors but it was like talking to a brick wall. That man never listens to anything useful we say.”

Neville concludes, “Well, it doesn’t matter now, since it is done. All we can do is take precaution against them. So, in other words we have to avoid them at all cost.”

Draco quickly changes the subject, “We have to visit Diagon Alley to buy our schools supplies; are you guys free; if not than we can go no our own.”

Lucius informs, “Yes, we are free but before we leave; for the next ten days all four of you will spend your days with me learning about your duties and role as Heirs. We are visiting Gringotts anyways today; so, it will be easy. You need to get information about your accounts and make necessary decisions. All the houses that you have inherited has been stagnant for many centuries. You will need to audit as well as manage those vaults and properties first and foremost. Your first task as Heir is to manage all the vaults and its contents proficiently. Will see how all of you do today.”

All four boys visibly gulped, that sounded so ominous; they all looked at each other and then at Lucius who was smirking. He had given them an impossible task on their very first day to see how they would react while under pressure. As Lord/Heir they will be put under pressure quite a lot. He needs to know their boundaries before he starts their actual training.

Narcissa clears her throat and catches everyone’s attention, “Well than let’s be off, we have lots to do and not enough time. Come on boys, I will put glamours on you.”

Once Narcissa was done they all flooed to Leaky Cauldron and darted towards Gringotts. When they reached the bank, Goblin asked, “Lord Malfoy, Lady Malfoy how can we assist you today?” Lucius replied, “Today Heirs require your assistance, we are here to only observe.”

Harry stepped up and said, “May your enemies blood flow as your money grows. I would like to have private meeting with my account manager Farlig please.”

The older looking goblin raised his head and nodded, “May your gold flow and riches multiply. Very well Heir Potter. Olmec will take you to your meeting room.”

Soon they were all guided towards the meeting room in the back, they all took their respective places. After a few minutes Farlig entered the room.

“Heir Potter, how may I assist you today?” he asks, Harry answers, “We are here today to audit and study all the vaults and properties we have all inherited.”

Farlig nodded and informs, “Very well, in that case I will have fetch other goblins who manages family accounts so they can assist the other Heirs as well.” Then Farlig left to fetch other goblins. He soon returned with three other goblins out of which Harry could only recognize one, Griphook who showed him his vault the first time.

Farlig introduced the goblins, “This is Sharptooth Malfoy family’s account manager, next is Griphook Longbottom family’s account manager and last one is Morag Zabini family’s account manager. Now what services do you require today Heir Potter.”

Harry answers, “We need to review the list of all the monies and properties inherited by us; later we may require guidance for choosing our investing options.”

Farlig nodded and all four goblins started working; they soon presented them with single parchment and stacks of folders. They gave the top parchment to each one and explained, “This is short summery of your monies and properties, while the folders contain detailed reports of the investments and their returns.”

Harry, Draco, Blaise and Neville all looked at their parchment and what they saw shook their core, they were single handedly richest Heirs in the entire world.

_Heir Harrison James Potter_

_List of Properties owned:_

  1. _Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry_
  2. _Gryffindor Castle_
  3. _The Lion’s Den_
  4. _Reign and Thunder (dueling den)_
  5. _Camelot_
  6. _Pendragon Institute_
  7. _Tintagel Castle_
  8. _Peverell Manor_
  9. _Peverell House_
  10. _Peverell Cemetery_
  11. _Black Manor_
  12. _Grimmauld Place_
  13. _Black Cottage_
  14. _Potter Palace_
  15. _Potter Manor_
  16. _Potter House (destroyed)_



_Vaults:_

  1. _145 Gryffindor_
  2. _121 Pendragon_
  3. _156-250 Peverell_
  4. _215-256 Black_
  5. _270-220 Potter_



_Monies inherited:_

  1. _Archaic and Royal house of Gryffindor 2079125630 Gallons, 15 sickles and 8 knuts_
  2. _Archaic and Royal House of Pendragon 8561313460 Gallons, 13 sickles and 23 knuts_
  3. _Most Ancient and Noble House of Peverell 207910750 Gallons, 0 sickles and 17 knuts_
  4. _Most Ancient and Noble House of Black 415821501 Gallons, 0 sickles and 20 knuts_
  5. _Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter 207910750 Gallons, 8 sickles and 18 knuts_



_Investment:_

  1. _Quality Quidditch Supplies (Gryffindor)_
  2. _Gladrags Wizardwear (Gryffindor)_
  3. _The Three Broomsticks (Peverell)_
  4. _Borgin and Burkes (Black)_
  5. _The Leaky Cauldron (Black)_
  6. _Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion and Scalp Treatment (Potter)_



_Appointments:_

_Account Manager: Farlig (Goblin)_

_Family Healer: None_

_Solicitor: None_

_Heir Draconis Lucius Malfoy_

_List of Properties owned:_

  1. _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_
  2. _Ravenclaw Castle_
  3. _Farmlands in Brazil (Un-named)_
  4. _Creatures’ Sanctuary_
  5. _Malfoy Manor_
  6. _Château la Marseille_
  7. _Château de Chambord_
  8. _La fey Castle_
  9. _La fey Manor_
  10. _Baudin Manor_
  11. _Baudin Townhouse_
  12. _Cote Castle_
  13. _Cote Cottage_



_Vaults:_

  1. _143 Ravenclaw_
  2. _213-255 Malfoy_
  3. _123 La Fey_
  4. _315-265 Baudin_
  5. _289-280 Cote_



_Monies inherited:_

  1. _Archaic and Royal house of Ravenclaw 8316400202 Gallons, 14 sickles and 8 knuts_
  2. _Most Ancient and Noble House of Malfoy 856123565 Gallons, 0 sickles and 17 knuts_
  3. _Most Ancient and Noble House of La fey 562356420 Gallons, 0 sickles and 45 knuts_
  4. _Most Ancient and Noble House of Baudin 234679202 Gallons, 5 sickles and 25 knuts_
  5. _Ancient and Noble House of Cote 24512800 Gallons, 0 sickles and 17 knuts_



_Investment:_

  1. _Eeylops Owl Emporium (Ravenclaw)_
  2. _Flourish and Bolts (Ravenclaw)_
  3. _Circle Interior Designers (La Fey)_
  4. _Westwood’s Wizarding Fashion (Malfoy)_
  5. _Mystical Meaderie (Baudin)_
  6. _Queenbee (Cote)_



_Appointments:_

_Account Manager: Sharptooth (Goblin)_

_Family Healer: Helbert Spleen_

_Solicitor: None_

_Heir Blaise Cyprus Zabini_

_List of Properties owned:_

  1. _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_
  2. _Slytherin Castle_
  3. _Snake Pit_
  4. _Serpent’s garden_
  5. _Severan Castle_
  6. _Severan Summer House_
  7. _Severan Manor_
  8. _Zabini Manor_
  9. _Florence Court_
  10. _Sicilian Villa_
  11. _Slewyn Manor_
  12. _Groove Cottage_
  13. _Cresswell Manor_
  14. _Cresswell Conservatory_
  15. _Cresswell Cemetery_



_Vaults:_

  1. _142 Slytherin_
  2. _122 Severan_
  3. _225-275 Zabini_
  4. _202-278 Slewyn_
  5. _321-236 Cresswell_



_Monies inherited:_

  1. _Archaic and Royal house of Slytherin 10395537525 Gallons, 15 sickles and 8 knuts_
  2. _Archaic and Royal House of Severan 8956457820 Gallons, 9 sickles and 3 knuts_
  3. _Most Ancient and Noble House of Zabini 365468790 Gallons, 3 sickles and 27 knuts_
  4. _Ancient and Noble House of Slewyn 356740050 Gallons, 0 sickles and 20 knuts_
  5. _Ancient and Noble House of Cresswell 23005600 Gallons, 10 sickles and 28 knuts_



_Investments:_

  1. _Slug and Jiggers Apothecary (Slytherin)_
  2. _Scrivenshaft’s Quill Shop (Slytherin)_
  3. _Twilfitt and Tatting’s (Zabini)_
  4. _Silverlings Everyday wear (Slewyn)_
  5. _Potage’s Cauldron Shop (Slewyn)_
  6. _Ollivandors (Cresswell)_



_Appointments:_

_Account Manager: Morag (Goblin)_

_Family Healer: Rutherford Poke_

_Solicitor: None_

_Heir Neville Frank Longbottom_

_List of Properties owned:_

  1. _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_
  2. _Hufflepuff Castle_
  3. _Bagger Forest_
  4. _Highmoor Cottage_
  5. _Kinglake Manor_
  6. _Longbottom Manor_
  7. _Longbottom Cottage_
  8. _Ashtree Court_
  9. _Vane Villa_
  10. _Blackbird Manor_
  11. _Fawley Castle_
  12. _Gladstone Cottage_
  13. _Cobalt Manor_



_Vaults:_

  1. _146 Hufflepuff_
  2. _250-290 Longbottom_
  3. _235-335 Vane_
  4. _201-312 Fawley_
  5. _323-389 Gladstone_



_Monies Inherited:_

  1. _Archaic and Royal house of Hufflepuff 562389006 Gallons, 3 sickles and 21 knuts_
  2. _Most Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom 420502009 Gallons, 9 sickles and 36 knuts_
  3. _Most Ancient and Noble House of Vane 562312234 Gallons, 5 sickles and 41 knuts_
  4. _Ancient and Noble House of Fawley 445520630 Gallons, 0 sickles and 50 knuts_
  5. _Ancient and Noble House of Gladstone 235612002 Gallons, 6 sickles and 28 knuts_



_Investments:_

  1. _Magical Menagerie (Hufflepuff)_
  2. _Wiseacre’s Wizarding Equipment (Hufflepuff)_
  3. _Honeydukes (Fawley)_
  4. _Madam Malkin’s robes for all occasion (Longbottom)_
  5. _Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour (Vane)_
  6. _Madam Puddifoot’s (Gladstone)_



_Appointments:_

_Account Manager: Griphook (Goblin)_

_Family Healer: None_

_Solicitor: None_

According to their account managers they owned part of almost everything in the wizarding world. They were having hard time wrapping their minds around the information they just received.

Blaise comes out of his stupor, “For now, we will take the dossiers with us, we need time to study those reports properly. Also, owl us recommendations for investments, we will inform you once we decide.” Goblins agreed readily.

Harry asks, “I have an idea guys, but I am not sure if you all will agree to it, just hear me out. Every single muggleborn who comes to Hogwarts has to visit Diagon Alley to buy their supplies, for that they have to visit Gringotts to exchange their muggle money to gallons. If goblins offer them inheritance test on their very first visit, we will be able to figure out if any of those muggleborn belongs to old pureblood families. I know goblins don’t offer their services free of costs, we can set up another vault which will be used for such expenses. We all can transfer equal amount of money to that vault. And this way, neither Dumbledore nor the ministry have to know about it. What do you guys think?”

Neville and Draco smiles at that, “Of course, we’ll agree Harry, it is an excellent idea. But we have to be extra careful; Dumbledore can not know about it; we must make sure that he cannot access the vault set up by us.”

They all agree to Harry’s suggestion and some discussion about how much to transfer; they finished the procedure to set up another vault, they finished their work at Gringotts, withdraw some money for shopping and left.

While they were walking towards Flourish and Bolts Lucius explains them, “You will need different supplies for your formal correspondence, the parchment and ink you use on daily basis for your schooling cannot be used for your formal post. You will need to buy special parchment, inking quills and vax as well. You will be representing your houses at school this year; you would have to be prepared for every eventuality. You might have to contact Head of other house if so, make sure you seal those letters with vax and press your Heir ring on it. The seal of the house works as a signature. Come on let’s buy your books first.”

They entered Flourish and Bolts, soon Draco, Harry, Neville and Blaise started picking books for their electives and core classes. Blaise and Neville picked books for three electives and core subjects while Harry and Draco picked books for all electives and cores. Harry also bought two extra books for runes; Ancient runes made easy and Runes dictionary, he had total ten books while Draco had eight and Blaise and Neville had six books each.

They finished their shopping at Flourish and Bolts and paid for their books and went to Scribbulus Writing Instruments. Where Lucius helped them buy parchment, quills, wax and such. They soon finished their shopping and went to Madam Malkin’s to buy their school uniforms. It took about an hour for Madam Malkin to measure and finalize their school robes, Madam Malkin told them to come after an hour to pick up their robes.

They decided to visit Magical Menagerie, to buy owl treats for their owls. Draco and Harry entered the store and Harry heard an irritated hiss, “ _Stupid, humans and their stupid boxes. Just you wait, once I get out of this box, you will be the first to receive my bite puny human.”_

Harry looked around to find the amusing voice, he reached the back of the store where snakes were show cased. He asks, _“Who said that?”_ A very beautiful stark black king cobra with white strips and iridescent glow raises it’s head, _“A speaker, great. You speaker… tell that puny human over there to change my box. It’s filthy in here and the smell is absolutely revolting. Tell him to bring live juicy mice; I am quite hungry. Also, I want my own personal box without these noisy brats over there.”_

Harry lowly chuckles and shakes his head at the snake’s antics; Draco asks, “What’s so funny, Harry?” Harry points at the snotty snake and says, “I found your spirit animal Draco, she is just like you.” He asks the snake, _“what is your name pretty one.”_ Snake gives him a warning hiss, _“Who are you calling pretty; you tiny human. I am the most poisonous and deadly snake you will ever meet, My name is Sheshayu. But you can call me Shresha.”_

Harry chuckles and shows Draco the snake and translate what she was saying who looks amused and says, “if you want than we can buy her and take her home with us.” Harry turns his big green eyes filled with hope towards him and exclaims, “Really… thank you so much Draco.” Then he turns towards the snake again and asks her, _“Do you want to come home with us?”_ Shresha hisses in answer, _“Fine, but only if I have my own personal box, I would not share it with anyone else.”_

Harry shares his conversation with Draco and afterwards they buy few necessary things for snake, while this was happening Blaise and Neville were playing with baby crups when suddenly a small baby niffler caught their eyes. They asked the shopkeeper about him, “Can you tell us about the baby niffler, he seems fairly tamed compared to what books says about these creatures.”

The shopkeeper explains, “In normal circumstances the niffler would be wreaking havoc in the shop, but this one was recently rescued from a den where they used to breed magical creatures in captivity. So, he is fairly tame and reserved compared to others.”

Blaise and Neville shared a horrified look and they asked, “If it’s alright with you, we would like to buy niffler with few necessary supplies for him.” Shopkeeper agreed wholeheartedly, and started packing their purchases.

Soon after they picked up their school robes from Madam Malkins, their potion ingredients for the school year and rest of the school supplies. Once they were done with their shopping they went back to manor.

~

After having light lunch Lucius began their training. He started with history of magic and explained in depth. He started, “Usually I wouldn’t have given you this long of history lesson but it seems all four of you were chosen by fate for a reason and you need to understand what is the cause of this.

It is believed that at the down of the universe, when there was nothing in existence, four goddesses, goddess of life, goddess of death, goddess of fate/destiny and goddess of magic combined their power and created the world as we know it. They created both muggles and witches as well as wizards in equal standing and numbers. They believed that having magic it will be easy for mortals to move forward and learn new ways of life.

But humans are unpredictable and volatile at best, seeing that some of them were different form the rest of them, it segregated both the groups. And because of this isolation the gap between them expanded even more. Muggles were inherently jealous and resentful of witches and wizards. Which caused them to annihilate half of wizarding population. And to this day, our wizarding population is significantly less than that of muggles. They dominate the most of the earth/world.

It went on and on like that for years, so witches and wizards started to go into hiding. Most of witches and wizards were scattered all over the world. They needed each other to survive in such a world; seeing as their creations had destroyed each other instead of cohabitating, Goddesses decided to give them another chance to live peacefully.

Thus, came Arthur Pendragon in to our world, he was given blessing by both lady magic and lady fate. Usually muggles cannot see magic. But Arthur even being a muggle who didn’t have magic in him could see it. He was supposed to be the link between muggles and wizards. He was prophesied to be the ruler of both worlds. But he also destroyed the wizarding kind; and turned against our world. Sure, he realized his mistakes later in life after he met Merlin. But the damage was done. He decided that separating both the world was the best option, that’s when the bases of statute of secrecy was established, because even those who were blessed by Goddess of fate and Magic could not understand or accept the wizarding world. Agreed that the statute was actually established much later. But the idea originated from here.

To integrate our and muggles world, Goddess of magic made one last attempt by blessing some muggles to have magic. But even after that muggleborn witches or wizards were shunned by muggles and killed in the process, so many of them died, magical blood was spilled by them without an ounce of remorse.

Witches and wizards from all over the world decided to create their own world, but since our numbers were reduced to mere thousands, the wizarding community gathered themselves and flee to more safe places.

Most of the witches and wizards agreed to establish them in the part of Britain, Scotland, Italy, New York, France, Japan, India, Africa, Brazil, Norway, Russia and Uganda.

You will find that now most of wizarding communities are staying in these countries only. If it wasn’t for muggleborn witches and wizards, we would have done complete segregation from muggle world.”

Harry was horrified to learn this, but he knew that muggles didn’t accept witches or wizards kindly. He was the living example of it. But to know that this has been going on and on for such long period of time. So many of them died, so many of the families ruined because of muggles inability to accept the magic. 

Draco was disturbed to know the truth behind statue of secrecy, yes, he understood parts pf it, but to finally realized that they were forced to go into hiding, forced to evacuate their homes, forced to flee. Muggles had taken so many things from them. No wonder all purebloods hate the muggleborn.

Lucius continues, “Our world found peace at last for many centuries, but it didn’t last that long either. Just like muggles there were some wizards who thought that hiding ourselves was not the way to live and Grindelwald came forth. He wanted our world to come out of hiding and rule the muggles. But it didn’t end well for either of the world. Neither wizarding world or muggle world were spared in the war created by Grindelwald. Finally, Dumbledore dueled with Grindelwald and won, but it was not for the good. Ever muggle loving Dumbledore decided to change our way of living and so many things have changed by him thus far. So many old traditions and culture has been abandoned by him. And since he is supposed leader of wizarding world, rest of them followed him as well. He has completely changed our world’s standard of living as well as traditions. We used to celebrate yule, Samhain, Beltane and so many more traditional festivals, instead now we have to celebrate Halloween, Christmas and Easter. Those festivals which have no bearing to us, so many things changed to please muggleborn witches and wizards. Do not get me wrong I have nothing against muggleborns; they are supposed to be blessed by Magic herself. If only they would accept our wizarding world completely, we wouldn’t have to face any problems.”

Lucius continued the lesson until late afternoon to early evening; then he decided to take some pity on them and gave them a break. Learning the truth behind the statue of secrecy and other unsavory facts left all four teens in a bitter mood. Hence, they ended up moping in the gardens.

Neville was still considering all the things he learned; he knew some parts of it, his Uncle Angie had given him some small version of the story but not in this depth. He also knew that all the stories or folktales have some amount of truth in them. Even if he ignored the past, he cannot ignore the present. His little brother was the unfortunate example of how much cruel the muggles could be. He may not be a muggle supporting wizard or traditionalist but he could not turn blind eye to the truth that was in front of him.

He asks, “What do you guys think, what should we do about this?”

Blaise raises an eyebrow in question, “As in right now or in future?”

“Not right now, per se; I know we cannot change the Wizengamot or general populations believes, we can still try. At the very least we can educate the muggleborn with our world and its ways.”

Harry and Draco say in perfect unison, “I agree.” They both whips their head towards each other and gives a shy smile.

Draco challenges, “How about this, we still have three years before we join Wizengamot, in this three year we will educate all the muggleborn and half-bloods about our wizarding world, and study all the changes Dumbleduck has made, we will evaluate how much our world have changed, how those changes have affected our world, if for the better or worse. We study the law and history; educate our selves for all the things necessary to understand what needs to be done. Find out our enemies’ strengths and weaknesses. Learn more strong and advanced magic, all of us are supposed to be prodigy in our fields, we acquire as much knowledge as we can. And when the time comes, we take the world head on and show them why wizards are not something to mess with.”

All three of them shows a toothy grin and approves enthusiastically. They have lost a lot of things in past centuries over centuries; now it was their time to concur the world and establish themselves.

They were in heat of another debate when Izzy pops in front of them, “Master Snape has arrived for the dinner. Mistress Narcissa be asking to join them for dinner sirs.”

They all went to their respective rooms to freshen up; afterwards they joined the rest of the family for dinner in informal dining area.

Boys greeted Severus Snape and took their seats. Severus took a long glance at Harry, he has put on some weight while staying at manor, but the boy was still too thin for a normal thirteen-year-old. He needed several nutrients potions to gain some height and weight. He also needed a mind healer to overcome the abuse he had suffered through his muggle relatives. Salazar knows what he has actually faced because of those damnable muggles. He mentally takes a note to talk with Harry about this.

They carried on with their dinner with normal chit chats with the boys; discussing what they were learning and how they would manage more than two elective subjects. What the old headmaster was up to.

Once dinner was over; Severus requested Harry to follow him so they could have a private conversation. They both reached pond and sat on the bench, when Snape asked, “How have you been Harry?”

Harry responses truthfully, “I have been good, sir; for the first time in years I am feeling that I belonged somewhere. Neville, Draco and Blaise have been taking care of me. Always supporting me no matter what. I am quite happy that I have finally found my family.”

Snape hums and questions, “And how is your health faring? You were quite weak and malnourished when we last met two weeks ago, I can see you are doing better but not as much I would like.”

Harry sighs, “I have been taking generic nutrient potion and weight gaining potion. It has helped me but they can help me so far. I have been stressed a lot recently. We still haven’t made contact with Remus Lupin and no one has any idea where my Godfather is. So it has been challenging few days for me. Sir, I wanted to ask, well we have been given permission slip for Hogsmeade trips on weekends. What should I do about it?”

“Well, we cannot not let anyone know that I have your guardianship otherwise, Headmaster will know about it too. As much as I want you to have a normal Hogwarts experience, I don’t think it is wise for me to sign your permission slip. Don’t worry too much about it, once we find your Godfather, we will transfer your guardianship to him. It will be much easier for you then.”

Harry shrugs, “I knew that, but still I didn’t want to make any assumptions that is why asked.”

“Anyways, there is something that I wanted to discuss with you Harry, I asked you to talk with me for the same reason. I know you are very proud and independent person; you will never ask for help in certain aspect of your life. But you have been through something that no child should experience, which is why I want you to talk to a mind healer. You won’t share what you have been through; at least not in detail. I am quite sure of it. You need healer and a mind healer to recover from all of this. Trust me Harry, I have been where you are right now, nightmares won’t stop unless you process what you have endured. You need it.”

Harry listens to Snape and considers everything. He had been feeling depressed and down a lot lately, even when he was surrounded by loving family the past was still clinging on to him. He needed to let go and for that he needed to talk to someone; he would never torture his family with the truth of his suffering, so talking to mind healer was safe option. At least right now.

Harry smirks, “Sure, Sir. I am pretty sure you have some recommendations as well.”

Snape pinches his nose and gives him a small parchment, “Yes, you prat. Here, healer’s name is Andromeda Tonks and mind healer’s name are Teddy Tonks. Andromeda is Narcissa’s elder sister. You might want to have a talk with Narcissa before you contact them. She will give you much better account of who they are since she knows them personally.”

Harry takes the note and agrees, “Sure, I will talk to Cissa about it.” Then they both were lost in their various discussion about which subjects to take if Prof McGonagall doesn’t allow him.

~

Next day, Harry approached Narcissa after breakfast in the gardens, “Good morning Cissa.”

“Good morning Harry, want to help me with the peonies, they are withering away, don’t know how that happened.”

Harry smiles, “Of course, Cissa. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something. If you have time.”

She beams, “I always have time for you boys, so what’s troubling you.”

Harry explains what he and Prof Snape had discussed last night. He asks about her elder sister and his husband. Narcissa listens to Harry silently and contemplates how to approach such sensitive topic. But she needs to be open with the boys; if she wants them to not make the same mistakes their parents made.

She says, “What you need to understand is growing up, we were quite close with each other, specially me and Andy. We were raised with strict pure blood traditions and beliefs; our family was considered Dark because of our affinity towards the dark magic. Me and Bella were followed the path that our parents had carved. But Andy was always different. Would you believe if I say that Andy was supposed to marry Lucius, but she ran away from home because she fell in love with Teddy. My mother disowned Andy after that, she also didn’t make any attempt to reach out and neither did I. It left a bitter memory in my life; to lose a sister that I loved very dearly. After the years passed Lucius and I were busy with Draco’s upbringing and then one thing after the other, I never got a chance to contact her. But I can assure you one thing Harry, she is the most gentle and caring person you will ever meet. She will move heaven and earth for those she loves, she is quite competent as healer as well. So, if you want her as your healer you can definitely contact her. It might give me a chance to reconcile with my estranged sister. But for now, you should arrange your meetings at Potter Palace. I do not want to ruin your chances at gaining a very competent friend.”

Harry smiles and hugs her, “It’s alright Cissa, I am quite sure that everything will work out for the best.”

Soon, they were back to working on peonies and debating various random things. Harry grasped that this is what feels like to belong in a family.


	10. Familial Bonds

Harry wrote a very concise letter asking both Andromeda and Teddy Tonks to meet him and to discuss their possible employment and send it with Azure.

That day Lucius was teaching them all the pureblood relations and history, he had given them family charters to understand who was related to who; since they needed to sort out potential allies and threats. Lucius was drilling them with all the relevant and irrelevant information that Harry felt like his head might explode. After hours of continuous torture Lucius let them go for the rest of the day. 

They all ended up on grounds playing with niffler whom Neville named Leo, they were exhausted; no one could think straight let alone hold a conversation. All of them were lounging around under soft evening sunlight. While Leo was running on his small legs from one person to another.

Neville was feeling glad that he decided to stay with Harry; and by extension with Blaise. They were getting to know each other better. He had never talked to the dark-skinned boy before meeting him at Gringotts. But after spending two weeks with Blaise Neville was quite pleased to know that Blaise was not prejudiced and cruel like other Slytherins; well he knew some of it was because of Dumbledore’s meddling, but he would never assume anything without knowing someone beforehand. Blaise was very straight forward kind of guy; he was also very vocal about what his beliefs were; which was surprising to say the least. He had a dry sense of humour; he was like a coconut; hard exterior from the outside but soft and mushy from inside. He was also very focused on his goals form the first years, he wanted to become healer and revolutionised healing profession. Blaise was by far the most loyal and caring person Neville had ever met. Even when he was not close to either Harry or himself; he had stayed by their side just for the sake of 0Draco. Neville was getting more and more smitten by the dark-skinned boy and his gentle nature.

Draco was exhausted with his father continuous teachings, but when he was sitting on grass with Harry, Blaise and Neville, he genuinely felt content. After doing hard work the entire day spending time with them was the best reward he could get. Draco and Harry’s relationship was progressing much more smoothly after their first argument. They both had found middle ground and decided to call it a truce, and forget everything they knew about each other and start with a clean slate. He was even getting quite close with Neville, the shy and timid boy he once tormented was now much fiercer and more steadfast. They were getting along so well; he knew that this three are going to become the most important people in his life. Thinking about this made his heart soar. Watching them playing with Leo and laughing and enjoying the quiet, he realised after only two weeks this three people had taken over first place in his priority list. He shook his head in fondness and joined them in teasing Leo with a gallon.

They shortly returned to Potter Palace for dinner; no matter how much time they spend at the Manor with Lucius and Narcissa they would always return to palace for dinner. It was unspoken agreement between the boys that they would always share at least one meal a day with each other only. It was becoming a habit for them. When Harry was getting ready for bed, he suddenly remembers that he would have to talk to Hermione before the school starts; he wasn’t sure if he trusted Ron, Ginny and Molly yet. But he wanted to give them a chance to explain if what he discovered was true or not.

He didn’t want to wait until last day of August to meet Hermione; he decided that he would just write a letter to her informing everything as discreetly as possible and he would add a few hexes and charms just as a precaution on the letter. With these thoughts whirling in his mind he quickly falls asleep.

~

Harry woke up with groan and stretches his sore muscles opening his bleary eyes. He quickly gets up remembering all the things that he needs to take care that day. He takes a long shower in hot water to sooth his muscles, he swiftly changes in to the denim and t-shirt and gets ready for the day. They have to leave for their lesson soon after breakfast so Harry decided to write his letter to Hermione before leaving. He goes to his study and sat down at his desk; starts writing the letter. 

_Dear Hermione,_

_Hullo, I hope you are well and enjoying your summer vacation with your parents Mione. I am quite well and enjoying my summer with Neville as well. There is a lot of things that I have come to know, which will definitely shock you but you would have to wait until we meet to know about it._

_Anyways, the main reason for writing this letter is to inform you take inheritance test at Gringotts before we go back to Hogwarts. When you visit Gringotts ask for Farling or Gorruk. If you need any kind of help or assistance you should contact either Lavender Brown or Parvati Patil. They have already done it; they will help you with this, but please make sure that Dumbledore doesn’t come to know about this, it is very important. I will explain everything when we meet._

_I will meet you at King’s Cross Station on 1 st September. Take care and I will see you soon._

_Yours_

_Harry Potter_

_P.S. I have put several jinxes and hexes on this letter, it will combust once you have read it or if someone else gotten hold of your mail._

Harry quickly closed the letter, casts several hexes, and jinxes, then goes to owlery, gives Hedwig the letter and playfully pats his head, “Make sure, only Hermione gets this letter and be very careful.” After nipping his fingers, she flies off.

He goes to the informal dining room and joins the others for breakfast. Neville greets, “Good Morning Harry. Where have you been this early in the morning?”

Harry takes his seat and replies, “I was in my study writing a letter to Hermione and just came from owlery. I have sent Hedwig with her letter, let’s hope everything works out.”

Blaise joins them, “Well, Granger is smarter than the rest of them, I am pretty sure she will figure out on her own given some time.”

Harry hums, “Yes, but she is also very loyal to Dumbledore; she was singing his praise even before we reached Hogwarts in first year, which is why I decided against meeting her. I can deny writing a letter if things go south; but I am pretty sure she will be on our side.”

Draco adds, “Yes, even so, it never hurts to be cautious. Now, lets finish breakfast; Father would be waiting for us, and if we turn up late than we are toast.”

They visibly blanched and started eating. Tipsy and Nipsy had prepared full Indian breakfast to appease Harry, who was arguing with them about not knowing Indian cuisine two days ago. After that both the elves had made their mission to make every known and unknown Indian dish to educate him about Indian cuisine. Today they had prepared Alloo paratha with curd, poha and besan cheela with Masala chai.

When Draco took first sip of the chai he literally moaned, he was lost in the burst of so many different flavours; he had thought that coffee was elixir of life but this cup of chai was by far the best he had ever had. “Salazar, what is in this tea Harry. I swear I have never had anything like this before.”

Harry smiles and snapes his fingers; Tipsy pops in front of him, “Please tell Draco, what is in the chai Tipsy.” The elf grinned and went into full on description of making Masala chai. Draco orders, “I don’t care how but from now on you will make sure that I get this first thing in the morning; teach my personal elf Dinky while you are at it. She might take offence if you start serving me.” Tipsy nodded and Draco called Dinky and introduced them. They finished their breakfast in hurry since they were running behind a little bit. They ran to floo after; no one wanted to be on the bad side of Lucius Malfoy first thing in the morning.

Today’s lesson was about basis of government, and how it started. All of their wizarding world’s roots started from the time of Arthur Pendragon. The basis of our government, if not our entire culture, begins in Camelot. It was believed that the man or woman capable of withdrawing Excalibur from the stone would be worthy of becoming king.

“Arthur Pendragon was still a boy when he drew the sword. Unbeknownst to the people of the land, the spell cast on the stone was actually set to release the stone only to the child of the previous king who had been kidnapped as a babe. Arthur took the throne at age thirteen. At first, he destroyed many witches and wizards lives because of his father Uther’s fanatical hatred of magic. Merlin changed a lot of his views regarding magic by being his adviser and friend.

“But after his father’s death he ruled with Merlin at his side, as well as his close friend, Sir Lancelot. He tried to redeem his deeds by giving witches and wizards a place to belong. Sir Lancelot is the beginning of the Gryffindor line, though most will attribute it to Sir Galahad, his son, due to Lancelot’s betrayal of Arthur. Sir Percival is the start of the Ravenclaw line. Sir Bors founded Hufflepuff. Lastly, Sir Kay founded Slytherin. The new names of their lines did not come until the founding of Hogwarts which was years later, but this is where their ancestry dates to. They were the only four wizards of the Knights of the Round Table; even King Arthur was muggle.

“When Mordred rose against Arthur and he died after the battle of Camlann, Merlin saw the need to set the Statute of Secrecy into place. He created a new government for the witches/wizards, with the four knights at his side. They were the foundation of the Wizengamot. Merlin saw fit to allow the people a say in their own government and the five worked tirelessly to design the Ministry of Magic. The name indicates a separation from muggles and that it governs all magical creatures, not just witches/wizards. Then, it had many less departments than it does today, beginning with only five, as well as the Minister. But many witches/wizards weren’t happy. Under the muggle kings, Lords ruled over certain areas in the king’s name. To appease them, these ten Lords were added to the Wizengamot, and the voting system established. Ten points for Merlin and Arthur, seven for the Founders, five for each Lord, and one for each head of a department at the Ministry.

“Over time, more Lords moved into the area, though this was long after Merlin and the original members of the Wizengamot had passed. They demanded to be added to the government. This happened once more and lead to the naming of the tiers of Houses.

“Originally, the Statute of Secrecy allowed no muggles to be told of magic, not even in cases of marriage or muggleborns, so for a long time, witches/wizards did not mingle with muggles and all remained pure-blooded, neglecting to tell muggleborns of their heritage. Allowances were made for muggleborns and they were allowed into our society and this caused departments in the Ministry to be added for their safety. It is from here that less and less pureblood lines continued on and more and more allowances were made within the Statute.

“Know this: while there are only twenty-eight so-called pureblood families left, it is not truly because their blood is pure. It is tradition and culture make them pure. Many of these lines do contain muggleborn blood since they were blood adopted, but these muggleborns assimilated into wizarding culture so well so as to be accepted by the pureblood families.” All four boys in the room stare, jaws dropped in… horror? Lucius mentally shakes his head. No, must be awe.

“That is the foundation of our government and how it developed to what we have today. Do you understand?” After that Lucius left them to read the history books of Wizengamot’s establishment.

~

They had their usual lunch at Malfoy Manor with Lucius and Narcissa, and went back to their studying; when Azure came and started tapping on the window. Harry got up from his desk and opened the window, he fed some treats and water to Azure and took the letter from him.

He opened the letter and started reading, Tonks’ had agreed to meet and discuss their employment tomorrow morning. Draco was watching Harry the whole time; he didn’t mean to pry but he was worried if that was Granger’s reply. Both Granger and Weasley are close to Harry, if they didn’t agree or support his and Harry’s relationship, it would hurt Harry and would create difference between them, he did not want that. Already Harry had chosen Weasley over him and taken Granger’s side in an argument. If they didn’t work it out, it would create rift between them. He was biting his bottom lip, contemplating whether to ask Harry or not.

He decided against it and went back to his work. Harry looked up from his book and saw Draco biting his bottom lip and thinking hard. He asked, “What’s wrong Draco?”

Draco jumps a little in his seat and looks at Harry,” No nothing is wrong, just thinking” than he gives him small smile, but Harry is not reassured at all.

He informs them, “Guys, tomorrow I will join you for lessons after lunch; I have asked healer and a mind healer to meet me, they will be coming tomorrow morning for the meeting.”

All three boys looked at Harry and then each other; Neville askes, “Harry, why didn’t you tell us. We would help you and support you no matter what.”

“It’s alright. Prof Snape gave me their contact information and they are Narcissa’s relatives. She was quite pleased to know that I would be taking their help.”

Draco shook his head, “Mom’s relatives, must be Blacks then. Who are they?”

“It’s your aunt and uncle Draco, Andromeda Tonks and Teddy Tonks.” Draco smiles, “Family then, it’s good. We do not need outsiders to know about your treatment and past living conditions; Also, it will give mom perfect opportunity to integrate them in our family as well. Aunt Andromeda was queen of Slytherin when she was at Hogwarts, she is not crazy like my aunt Bella but she is scarry as hell; if you have her on your side Harry, it will definitely be an advantage.”

Harry shudders and says, “It seems all Blacks are scary as hell.” They all scuffle a little laugh when all of sudden Draco grasps, “Family, Holy merlin; how the hell did I forgot about my cousin.” He practically runs to his father’s study where he is working, trailing Harry, Blaise and Neville behind him.

Draco almost shouts, “Father, we forgot about the Lovegoods.” His father looks up from his charters and softly mutters a curse under his breath, “I will contact cousin Xeno and ask him for a meeting, see if they are amenable to join our family back. It is good that you remembered them Draco, it would benefit you to have a eyes and ears in Ravenclaw tower to know what is going on there. If I remember correctly your cousin Luna is second year Ravenclaw. It will be prudent for us to make amends with them as early as possible.”

Draco stands up straight and declares, “Of course Father.” And turns around and goes back to their shared study for their lesson. When they are all back, Blaise exclaims, “How could you forgot about Luna, Draco!”

Draco sighs, “Give me a break alright, it has been challenging few days, even I can make mistakes for Salazar’s sakes!” Harry stares at them impatiently and asks, “Who’s Luna guys?”

Neville replies, “You might remember her, she is always with Ginny, she started Hogwarts last year, if you see Draco and Luna together, you will almost think that they are siblings, they both have identical silver blond hair. She is very sweet and adorable girl; a bit weird and eccentric but sweet nonetheless.”

Draco cries, “Hey, that’s my cousin you are talking about, hold your tongue.” Neville gives him an unimpressed stare and says, “like you haven’t spoken about her like that at all.”

“Nope, she is my cousin and she is an absolute angel, Harry you will love her, she is almost as awkward as you are if not more.” Neville and Blaise burst into laughter, “You are all the worst.” Harry huffs, taking his book and starts reading ignoring their laugh.

~

Next morning, Draco, Neville and Blaise leaves after their breakfast, Harry was sitting in parlour sipping cup of tea when Drax appears, “Your guests have arrived Master Harry.”

Harry nods, “Bring them here, Drax and send some tea and scones with Tipsy for our guests as well.” After several minutes later, Drax comes back with the Tonks. When Harry saw Andromeda, it wasn’t sure that she was Cissa’s sister, she had very little resemblance with Narcissa, she had light brown hair unlike Narcissa who had jet black hair with few white. She had almond shaped eyes which were kinder and softer somehow; her entire physical appearance was quite welcoming and friendly. Whereas Teddy Tonks was looking like a typical muggle, he was wearing muggle clothing and was a little short than Andromeda and had friendly smile on his face, it was almost infectious. He smiled at them and showed them their seats.

“Good morning Mr and Mrs. Tonks. I really appreciate you meeting me this early in the morning.”

Teddy waves his hand, “It’s alright Mr. Potter. We are happy to help you anyway we can.” Harry nods, “Thank you and I really appreciate this, but I would like you to take a wizards oath, before we begin our actual consultation, I do not want anyone to know about what will be discussed today.”

Andromeda agrees, “Though we take our patients’ confidentiality very seriously; we will take the wizard’s oath to satisfy your doubts.” They both pulled out their wands, Teddy went first, “I Teddy Tonks, swear on my magic to abstain from any communication in any way, shape or form involving Harry Potter’s health and any other information that might come forward from my employment as their mind healer. So, mote it be.”

Next Andromeda took the oath, “I Andromeda Lisa Tonks nee Black, swear on my magic to abstain from any communication in any way shape or form involving Harry Potter’s health and any other information that I might gain as his healer. So, mote it be.”

Once that was out of the way Harry took over. “I will start with the beginning of this whole ordeal. I don’t know how long this all has been going on, but for me it started when my parents went into hiding during the first war. They chose the wrong person for their fidelius charm, on my godfather’s urging they chose Peter Pettigrew as their secret keeper since my godfather would have seemed an obvious choice, but no one knew that Peter was a death eater and he betrayed them by giving their address to Voldemort. When my parents were killed Dumbledore sealed their wills and left me on my aunt’s doorsteps with a letter instructing them to look after me. My aunt and uncle, saying that they were not fond of me or my magic would be an understatement. They hated me and everything I stood for. They did take me in, but my treatment was far from fair. I was treated worse than a house elf, my bedroom was cupboard under the stairs for eleven years until my Hogwarts letter came. I didn’t even know that I was a wizard until then, anyways I was given food scraps for my chores and house work, there were days when I didn’t get to eat food for weeks; if I had made some mistakes my uncle used to beat me and punish me. Specially when my magic would flare up, I would be punished severely. I have scars on my back to this day. This year when my uncle’s sister was visiting; she started bad mouthing about my parents and I lost control, I inflated her and she float away, afterwards I took a knight bus to Diagon Alley, one thing led to another and I found out a lot of things, including the fact that my parents wills were never read, I was never supposed to go with my aunt and uncle since they are not my real family and whole lot of other things. But most importantly I found out that my godfather is innocent and that I was being used as weapon. I do have friends and family who is helping me through all of this, but Prof Snape suggested that I need to consult a mind healer if I want to put this all behind me. Which is how I got your contact information.”

Andromeda and Teddy were stunned speechless, saviour of their wizarding world was abused and mistreated all through out the childhood. Andy was pissed, his cousin was innocent and had to suffer twelve years in Azkaban while his godson was abused. she had to take few deep breaths to control his temper, “This is not what we were expecting, but nevertheless we will help you however we can. Will you consent to a medical check-up, I like to see how much damaged those vermins have caused?”

Harry simply nodded, Andromeda casts a historical diagnostics spell on Harry; and the parchment in her hand started filling with all the information. What she saw on the results made her blood boil; broken bones at the age of three, pneumonia which was untreated, brain swelling at age five, infections from untreated wounds, no vaccines were given to him to this day, malnourished throughout the childhood, stunted growth, broken bones which were still not treated and sweet Salazar she would AK those sorry excuses of muggles if she got her hands on them.

She begins, “Mr. Potter..” Harry interrupts, “Please call me Harry.” She smiles, “Very well, Harry you have quite a list of injuries that needs to be taken care of, lot of these can be dealt with quite easily but it will take some time, you will need to take nutrition potion, blood replenisher potion with bone strengthening draught as well as growth booster draught. I will draft up a proper routine for taking these potions and a very detailed diet to accompany with it. It will take you two- or three-months at best to recover your health. You will need a potion master for brewing these, but since you are in touch with Severus Snape, he can brew all of these with ease. And the matter of your scars, since you are magical child with some scar removing ointment you will be able to vanish them completely; depending on the age and severity of the scar it might take several applications to get rid of them but they will vanish for sure.”

Harry smiles at that he had always hated those scars, “Thank you, Mrs. Tonks. I am very happy to hear that.” Teddy takes over after that, “Look Harry, what you have described so far; it seems that you will need a lot more counselling than any other person I have met. But your school will start soon and we do not have much time to cover everything; but we will try our best to help you. We will take at least four sessions before your term starts. It will give me necessary information on how to proceed further. We have two options to take our sessions, first is legilimency, where I can access your mind and we can sort out your abusive memories and another is using a pensive to view those memories together and talking about it afterwards.”

Harry was lost in his thoughts for a few seconds but then he remembers that he was natural occlumence, which meant legilimency won’t work on him unless he pulled down his mental shields manually, which he doesn’t know how, “First option won’t work on me since I am natural occlumance; even than letting someone else inside my head sound too intimate and intrusive, so will have to take the second option.”

Teddy is surprised by the admission, “Sorry, but if I may ask, how did you find out that you are a natural occlumance.” Harry shrugs, “It was in my Inheritance test. There was a lot of information that I found out in that test including my inherited traits, creature inheritance and my mate. Trust me when I say this, it was eye opening for sure.”

Teddy and Andromeda look at each other and then at Harry, Andy asks, “You have creature blood?” Harry nods, “Yes, I have Phoenix creature inheritance, I still don’t know much about it, but Draco and others are helping me learn all about it.”

Andy clears her throat, “Did you just say Draco, as in Draco Malfoy, my sister’s son!” Harry furrows his eyebrows, “Yes, Draco he is my mate; which is how I ended up here, in my ancestral home. I didn’t even know about it. He, my brother Nev, Blaise and Draco’s parents have been helping me learn all about wizarding world.”

Upon hearing her sister’s name Andy eyes started tearing up; she was so fond of her little sister; but after her marriage they didn’t try to make any efforts to make amends. They both knew that it was because of potions and compulsion spells; yes, Andy and Teddy had figured out it after they started their healer training; a healer would always know the difference between a natural reaction and a forced one. This was a golden opportunity for her to make up with her sister for the lost time.

“Do you think they will be amenable to meet us, I want to make amends with my sister and meet my nephew as well.” Harry gave them an electric smile and says, “Of course, Cissa was the one who urged me to contact you saying that you were the most accomplished and gentle healer I would ever find. If you like I can floo to the Manor and ask them to change the wards, I have to join the others for my lessons anyways.” They both agreed readily, soon Harry led them to the fireplace, he flooed to Manor and found Narcissa in the gardens, “Cissa, I need your help, will you help me?”

Narcissa looked up from her book, “Of course Harry, what is it?” He smiles, “Your sister and her husband want to meet you; can you change the wards for them so that they can enter.”

She stood up abruptly and her steps falters but soon she regains her balance, “Of course Harry”; she apparated to the ward room to change the wards, after several minutes she came back and says, “Wards have been altered, they will be able to floo to the Manor, bring them over Harry and lead them to front parlour, Lucius and I will be waiting there.”

Harry flooed back to palace and brings them to Manor. He led them to front parlour and then left them. When Andromeda entered Narcissa couldn’t believe her eyes, her sister was in front of her, after all this time; still looking as regal as ever. Wearing dark magenta dress robes with golden etchings, she has aged so well, hair perfectly put in hairdo. She was looking like the same Andy she grew up with; except a lot gentler and more approachable. Narcissa stepped forward and embraced her sister in a fierce hug; “Oh I missed you so much Andy. You have no idea.” Her eyes were shedding all tears that she was holding back for years.

Andy smiles, “I missed you as well Cissa, how could I not. You are my baby sister; I am so sorry Cissa that I left you there without any support. I am so sorry Cissa.”

Andy and Narcissa takes seat on the love seat while Lucius sat on arm chair and Teddy took his seat on the sofa; the conversation flowed swiftly from there. Both sisters were hell bent on catching up all the things that they have missed in past years. Narcissa complains about having to raise Draco all alone without much help, doing all the duties of pureblood lady and so on. Andy complains about her job as healer as Saint Mungo’s, her daughter Dora’s rebellious tantrums, Dora’s dangerous job as Auror and so on. They were lost in their own world before they realised that they had left their husband to fend themselves. When they looked at them, both Lucius and Teddy were lost in the conversation of their own. Both the sisters sighed in relief; both of them wanted their family back and it would have been difficult if their husbands didn’t support them.

~

Harry enters study where Draco, Blaise and Neville are studying, “Hey Guys.” They look up from their respective books, Draco asks, “Everything went well with the meeting?”

Harry nods, “Yes, everything is fine Draco; your Aunt and Uncle are here to meet your parents and make amends. But I would suggest to wait before going to meet them, so that both Cissa and Andy can spend some time together.”

He nods and offers Harry on of the books, “Alright, here starts reading, we still have a lot to cover about Wizengamot’s history.” Soon all of them were lost in their studies yet again.

After an hour of reading, Draco decided to meet his aunt and uncle; rest of the boys seems to have enough of reading as well. They all left to meet the guests together. When they reached the front parlour his parents and aunt and uncle were chatting pleasantly. Small smile appeared on Draco’s face seeing his mother smiling; he had never seen his mother this much happy in past so many years. Harry saw the smile and the scene in front of him and felt content knowing that he got to be the reason behind his mate’s family’s happiness, he slipped his hand in Draco’s hand and tugged softly and gave him a soft smile.

Draco nodded and move forwards, he introduces himself, “Hello, Aunt Andromeda, I am Draco Lucius Malfoy. Pleased to meet you Mam.”

Andy looked at him from head and toe and gave him the most dazzling smile while embracing him, “You are just like Cissa when she was younger. I am pleased to meet you as well nephew.” After that all boy gave their introductions; they all decided to retire to dining room for the lunch. They discussed everything from inheritance to Dumbledore’s meddling to their studies and subjects.

After lunch they were discussing how to cover Harry’s mind healing session after the school started. Harry tuned out the most of their reasons and arguments, there something about the situations that was rubbing him the wrong way. There was something that was right in front of him yet he couldn’t grasp it. He was raking his mind to pick out the single thread of reasoning that would lead him somewhere. The rest of the family continued the discussion; while he was busy searching for clue; their discussion seemed to have drifted towards marriage and traditions. Harry’s ears perked up at that, he tried to get their attention in between a heated debate. They ignored him for a few minutes; after which Harry lost his patience, he almost shouts, “GUYSSSS”

There was a pin drop silence in the room, Harry takes a deep breath, “Okay, now that I have your attention, can you please tell me if it is a tradition in wizarding world to marry early or not?”

Andy and Narcissa looked at him like he had grown another head or something; Harry rolled his eyes but refrained from saying something disrespectful; since he needed answers from them right now. Andromeda answers, “No, not particularly, usually wizards marry young to procreate early as it takes a toll on the witch or wizard’s magical core. Since, both witches and wizards can get pregnant because of magic, in magical pregnancy they need a lot more to survive, after certain time, the more you age more your core weakens. Which can cause you to miscarry which is why most witches and wizards marry young and carry pregnancies early in their life.”

Harry is lost in his thoughts again; his parents did marry each other right after finishing Hogwarts and had him early as well. He asks Neville, “Did your parents marry right after finishing Hogwarts?”

Neville have him a confused look but nodded nonetheless. Then Harry turned to Lucius and Narcissa, “When did you guys got married?”

Narcissa replied, “Since Lucius finished his N.W.E.T.S before me, we waited until I was out of Hogwarts for our bonding.”

Harry turned to Andy and Teddy, “Did you guys got married right after Hogwarts as well?” They both gave him incredulous look but nodded as well.

Harry started pacing around the room while the various thoughts were running rampant in his mind. He stopped abruptly and asked, “What about Arthur and Molly Weasley?”

Andy replied, “They got bonded while in Hogwarts since Molly got pregnant with her eldest son William while they were still in school.”

Draco gave an exasperated sigh and asks, “Why are you suddenly interested in entire wizarding population’s bonding’s Harry. What’s going on in that big head of yours?”

Harry ignored him completely and continued with his pacing. Then realisation downed on him, it wasn’t about the bonding but what happens afterwards. It was really sneaky and manipulative of Dumbledore but you have to give it to him, he plans from very long perspective.

He turns to Neville, “After getting bonded did your parents left the Longbottom Manor?” Neville furrows his eyebrows and says, “Well, Gran said they were still living with her at Manor until I turned one year old, after that they decided to live separately, and left the Manor.”

“What about Weasley’s, they are also pure blood family aren’t they? How come they are not living at their ancestral home?”

Lucius replied, “Lord Weasley had procured betrothal contract between Arthur and Gideon Prewett; which had to be broken due to Molly’s unexpected pregnancy, which caused them to have a raw and Arthur walked out of the family afterwards.”

Draco had enough of his mate’s antics, he stood up and placed his hands on Harry’s arms to stop him from pacing and demands, “For the love of every thing holy, stop pacing and tell me what’s going Harry, otherwise you will dug up a hole in the ground with your walking.”

Harry looks at him and sighs, “Don’t you see, Draco. There is a pattern here; It’s not about the marriage but what happens afterwards. Half of the couples from our parents’ time are either dead, incapacitated or imprisoned. Neville’s parents are in Saint Mungo’s, my parents are dead. My godfather was imprisoned until recently. Everything is planned, everyone is being used as pawn by Dumbledore. Half of the light sided families died during first war, and most of dark sided families are in Azkaban. There’s no Lord Potter, Black or Longbottom, Prewett and so many others, it essentially put Dumbledore in favourable position; which must be how he would have acquired most of his proxy seats that made him Chief Warlock.”

“I mean for merlin’s sake, isn’t it convenient for him that they all abruptly decided to leave their heavily guarded ancestral home and live somewhere out in the open where anyone could get to them specially in the middle of the war. And if you are Lord why leave the manor at all, when your first responsibility as Lord is to look after your family home. This all seems too easy to me. And on top of that they all had children before something happened to them, which gives Dumbledore at least fifteen to sixteen years to change the wizarding world according to his predilections before the rightful heirs take their place in Wizengamot; not just that every guardian chosen by my parents conveniently was not available; my godfather got thrown in Azkaban, my godmother got admitted in hospital; Prof Snape was ex death eater and Remus was not even informed about my guardianship. Everything that is happening in wizarding world for past twenty years or more is prearranged and properly organised by Dumbledore.”

Everyone was looking gobsmacked after his rant. But what he said made perfect sense. Lucius had to give it to him, the boy was too perspective despite his young age. The way Harry explained, it gave Dumbledore all the power he needed to essentially rule the wizarding world. There weren’t many light families left to express their opinion openly without challenging Dumbledore and there weren’t many dark families left to oppose him either. He himself had attended so many Wizengamot sessions where Dumbledore ruled everything in his favour.

Narcissa was fuming, hearing the entire outburst she understood perfectly well what Dumbledore was trying to do; she had to do something about him soon otherwise his boys would become target. They had to think of something soon to throw the old coot away from the boys. Andromeda was thinking on the similar line as well. She would have to talk to Dora about her loyalties and responsibilities towards the family. They would need every single person they could find on their side to stand up against the most powerful wizard of their time.

Blaise was impressed with Harry’s reasoning, he picked out the minute details that they all ignored. It was impressive as well as very perspective. It means that they would have to be more careful while staying at Hogwarts otherwise it might end horribly for them.

Draco was feeling so many emotions at the same time that he couldn’t figure out on what to focus. Harry was not only targeted by dark side but the light side as well. Which would send his instinct into haywire. They had to come up with a viable plan otherwise it would end up in a disaster for them. He looked into Harry’s eyes and demands, “I know you have a hero complex Harry, but you can’t go into any sort of dangers like you used to before; you will have to learn how to be cunning and resourceful and avoid getting into trouble. My veela demands that I protect you and look after you, you will have to work with me here Harry, or I might go into early inheritance if you are in mortal danger. If that happens, I might not survive the first transformation.”

Harry gulps and temperature in the room drops significantly; they all know that Draco is right on all counts, which puts Harry in a very difficult position since he is used to doing everything on his own. But putting Draco’s life in danger just so he could prove that he is capable of surviving on his own seems very selfish and irresponsible. He has become increasingly fond of Draco, even though he does get on his nerves from time to time with his usual barbs and sarcasm. He does care about him, thinking that he might be responsible for hurting Draco is the last thing that he wants to do. He wraps his arms around Draco’s torso and says, “I promise, I will always put my safety and your health first. I don’t want to be the person to cause you any harm Draco; I do care about you a lot.”

Everyone in the room shares a fond smile and chuckles at their endearing public display of affection. They have been dancing around each other for quite some time now, it seems they have taken another step into right direction.

~

Next week went into flurry of various activities; Harry started his potion regime with nutrient diet given by Andromeda. Harry had two sessions with Teddy, they decide to start with Harry’s childhood and work their way forwards. Boys continued their politics lessons with Lucius. Lucius also met Lovegood’s at their residence and accepted them into family once again.

They also started meditation and breathing exercise, to have better control over their elemental abilities. They continued with their studies as well, Harry and Neville were determined to improve their potion brewing abilities, Tavi was excellent at brewing potions as well, she would help them both when Draco and Blaise were busy with something else.

Both Harry and Neville had decided to learn French and Italian to please their respective mates and learning different language would give them advantage over having private conversation out in the open.

Harry wanted to learn Tamil and Hindi as well later, he was picking up the languages far to easily. Incidentally Harry had learned that he could grasp any concept without any difficulties after removing blocks and spells from him. It was easy for him to remember what he learned now than before. He had almost eidetic memory now; which was coming useful in learning anything to everything.

Soon the day came when he had to meet the Weasley twins and their older brothers if they were joining them for meeting. Harry and Neville decided to meet them at Gringotts. The term was about to start in a week and Diagon Alley would be packed with witches and wizards of all kinds. They have to be careful; Harry only trusted the goblins since they had helped him from the start.

They had their usual breakfast and got ready for their meeting; Both casted glamour on each other and flooed to Leaky Cauldron. They decided to wait outside the bank for twins. Soon, they heard tell-tale sign of apparition and Fred, George and another long red-haired man appeared in front of them. Harry says, “Please follow me inside for the meeting.”

Fred grinned, “Oh little harrikins it’s so”

George says, “good to see you.”

“We couldn’t even recognise “

“you, being sneaky little brother.” 

“let’s go inside Gred, before”

“he decided to spill the tea. Shall we?”

Neville looks from Fred to George and tried to follow their conversation and strains his neck. They all entered the bank and both Harry and Neville dropped their glamours. They greet the goblins and soon reach the meeting room they had acquired. If both Fred and George were surprised to see Neville with them; they didn’t show it.

Fred says, “Harry, Neville I like to introduce you to our oldest and most dashing brother, William Weasley.” Bill extends his hand and says, “Please call me Bill, everyone does.” The twins had asked his brother’s help for coming here while their family were still in Egypt. Bill had been working with goblins, so it helped them create an easy excuse for disappearing for a few hours.

After having polite discussion, they told them about the blocks, potions and compulsion charms and urged them to take the same tests. Bill, Fred and George instantly agreed to take the tests, their test results showed the similar results.

Bill says, “Okay, now that we know what’s going on, how to proceed from here an out.” Harry explains, “We have already informed every single student at Hogwarts; I wanted to personally inform you because well; my results showed that Molly, Ron and Ginny were stealing from me. I didn’t know whether they are doing it on purpose or not. I don’t want to presume anything even though the results show it.”

All three Weasley were shocked upon hearing that; their family members were stealing from Harry it showed in the results clearly. Harry had considered them family and now this, it must have been difficult for Harry to reconcile with the facts. Bill assured, “I don’t know whether it was intentional or not Harry, but I promise you this I will find out the truth and help you however I can.”

Neville adds, “You might want to meet up with your grandparents, these potions and compulsions has been going on for more than forty years. Which means your parents are compromised as well. Make sure every single person in your family is given these tests followed with the purging.”

Afterwards all three Weasleys went through cleansing ritual, they continued their discussion with light lunch after which they went their separate ways.

~

Next four days passed in blur; Hermione wrote Harry that she had gone to Gringotts and was shocked to see the results but would only discuss with him in person. Which was fine by him since he didn’t want to have long discussion over letters. Knowing Hermione, she would end up making into a huge debate.

All four boys were lounging in the Palace courtyard when Blaise says, “I am going back to Summer house tomorrow.” Harry and Draco shared a look and asks, “Why?” Blaise replies, “I want to spend some time with mother before we start school, I will only see her in winter after school starts.” Neville agrees “I am also going back to Longbottom Manor for last three days, I miss Gran and I want to spend some time with her before we leave for school.”

Harry understood that; they had been staying with him for almost four weeks now, of course they missed their family. He smiles, “Of course guys, we will meet on King Cross station on 1st September.” Harry turned to Draco, “You should spend some days with your parents as well. You won’t get to see them for another three months.”

Draco made a weird face but agreed because he knew Harry was right. He could always floo to Palace in the evening to spend time with Harry. They went inside for dinner after which they all retired to their respective rooms.

Next day Neville, Blaise and Draco flooed to their homes. Harry was all alone for the first time in a month. He decided to spend the morning meditating in the gardens. He had the breakfast in the informal lounge and went to his room to sort out the clothes he would bring with him at school.

With the help of Hinky he sorted all the clothes according to his preference. He selected six shirts, t-shirts, cardigans, trousers and jeans and wizarding robes, two jackets, two winter coats and cloaks with two trainers, sneakers, two Italian leather shoes and one-night slippers and his favourite black. dragonhide boots. He packed two pairs of joggers, hoodies, sweatpants and tank tops. He also packed hand gloves gifted by Neville and his quidditch uniform, broom and broom polishing kit. He packed watches, socks, beanie and his shower gel, shampoo and conditioner with Sleekeazy’s hair potion, cologne. He packed every littler small thing he could remember. He would work on his packing in the day and spend evening with Draco playing with Shresha. Harry had made Shresha her familiar so that he could take her with him to school.

Next day he focused on his books and school supplies. He sorted out the books for his course work of school and the rest which he thought were interesting to read in the free time. He also packed all the potions ingredients and cauldron and knife set given by Blaise. He packed his potions and ointments as well.

Before the 31st August, Harry was almost ready to leave for Hogwarts on moment’s notice. He was sipping masala chai in the garden on the evening of 31st, when he left his uncle’s place last month, he hadn’t thought he would gain this much in less than a month. He was content with how his life was going even though he still hadn’t gotten in touch with his godfather. He was finally happy. He only wished he could enjoy this year at Hogwarts without much trouble for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's all starting in the next chapter, it will be a very long one so it might take some time for me to update but will try to do it sooner. Hope you enjoy.


	11. Third Year Part 1

On September 1st, Harry woke up early in the morning, feeling excited and nervous at the same time. He took his time taking shower, he put on dark blue denims with white t-shirt and black jacket with black dragonhide boots. He put his school uniform in his messenger bag with the books he was currently reading. Lastly, he put on the glasses that Draco had gifted him, they were quite fashionable and sturdy. He asked Hinky to take his trunk to Malfoy manor and went to main parlour and called all the house elves. Everyone gathered in the parlour and Harry addressed them, “Good Morning everyone. As you all know I will be leaving for Hogwarts this morning and will be coming back in winter hols. You will care for the palace as you have already done before; if possible Tavi you will contact house elves who works for us in other property and make sure everything is as it should be. If you have any issue you will contact me instantly but be discreet about it. Do take care of each other in the meantime. I will see you all in holidays.”

With that he flooed to Malfoy manor, he went straight to Draco’s room; but the snotty blond was still in the shower so he went to Dining hall where Lucius and Narcissa were sipping tea and having breakfast. Harry greeted them, “Good morning Cissa, Lord Malfoy.”

Narcissa gave him a warm smile and replied the same and Lucius smiles and said, “I think you should start calling me Lucius, after all we are to be family someday.”

Harry nodded and started filling his plate with breakfast. When they were half way through Draco ascends in the hall and Narcissa huffs, “Dragon, look at the time. Must you take this much time in getting ready? We are to leave in less than twenty minutes and you still haven’t had your breakfast yet.”

Draco rolls his eyes, “Calm down Mother, my trunk and Archimedes’s cage is packed and ready. I will finish breakfast in few minutes and we can leave than. There is nothing to worry about.”

They promptly finished their breakfast and soon flooed to King’s Cross station. Harry had casted glamour on himself since he was flooing with the Malfoy’s. He said his goodbyes to elder Malfoy’s and then turned to leave when Draco grabs his arm and stops him, “Be careful okay. I know you trust your friends but I don’t. So, keep your eyes open; we will talk later in the night with the help of mirror or diaries. You have them with you right?”

Harry smiles, “Yes I have them here in my bag. Don’t worry Draco. I am not naïve like before. We talk soon okay.” He hugged him quickly and left to find Neville or Hermione. When he was at good distance from Draco, he quietly dropped the glamour.

He saw Neville standing beside the pillar; Leo was lazing on his shoulder and he ran to him in excitement. He fiercely hugged Nev, “I missed you brother.” Neville smiles softly and hugged him back. They both decided to board the train early to find a decent compartment; they soon found one and settled their things with them.

Harry put up some privacy charms and teases, “So, anything new Nev. You seemed quite cheerful today.”

Neville groans, “Shut it you. Me and Blaise have been talking through mirrors for last two days. Nothing more or special at all. What about you and Draco”

Harry blushes, “As usual, we have been spending evenings together. We have gotten quite close.”

They continued their talks for another half an hour when door yanks open and Hermione walks in. She says, “Hey Harry. How was your summer? Must have been better since you weren’t with Dursley’s. How did you find about potions and-“

But before she can finish the sentence Harry silenced her and pull her down beside her. “You can’t just discuss that out in the open Hermione.”

She shuts up promptly Harry alters the privacy charms so that she is included. Harry says, “Now, ask whatever you want to ask.” She raises her eyebrow in questions, “I have casted privacy charms so that no one can pry on our conversation.”

She asks, “Wait I have so many questions I have prepare a list. Let me just.” She ruffles through her bag and find her book. She opens it and started shooting questions.

“How did you guys find out about the potions and charms?” Harry replies, “I went to Gringotts to withdraw some gallons but I didn’t have my key with me so they did a scan and it all came out after that.”

“How many people are given these potions, are we the only ones who are targeted or are there others.”

Neville replies, “Every single student is given these potion and charms. They all went through purging just like you.”

“How did you know I wasn’t a muggleborn Harry even my parents didn’t know that they had magical blood in them.”

“We didn’t, but my tests showed that my mother was not muggleborn so just thought that may be other muggleborn might have magical blood in them as well. It was just a guess Hermione.”

Neville asks, “So, you must be related to someone from magical world, well who are they?”

Hermione replies, “I have only fraction of magical blood, only 1 or 2 % may be. Goblins explained that because of the diluted bloodline. I didn’t understand it all, but I am related to Dogsworth Granger family. They are supposed healers in wizarding world. I really don’t know anything about them at all. I tried to find books about genealogy but couldn’t find one.”

Neville smiles, “Dogsworth have a seat in Board of Governors at St Mangos. Most of their family is in the healer profession. You won’t find any books about genealogy in the market since Dumbledore has removed them; you can only find them in family libraries now a days. Diluted bloodline’s means that someone from your ancestor had married into Dogsworth family. But sometimes magical gifts can skip the generations who are called squibs so their offspring must have been non magical, so they married to muggles and carried on. But the dormant magical gene must have resurfaced when you were born; which is why they think that you are first witch in your family. Since it skipped this many generations you only have 1 or 2 % magical blood in you.”

Hermione was shocked with the explanation as well as Neville’s confidence. He was talking and sitting differently and was looking different as well; he had a new pet as well. It seemed like a lot of things had changed this summer; she was about to ask when suddenly the train whistled, she asks instead, “Have you seen Ron? We are about to leave he hasn’t come yet.”

Harry and Neville, says they haven’t seen him or any other Weasley. They were about to start another debate when the door opened and Ron entered their compartment.

Harry and Neville shared a quick glance at each other; both silently agreed to only share as little as possible with Ron. Neither of them trusted Ron at the moment. Ron awkwardly sat beside Hermione and says, “Hey guys.”

Both Harry and Neville greet him; Hermione senses the stiff atmosphere in the compartment and asks, “What’s wrong, something happened between three of you. You guys are behaving all awkwardly. Ron what did you do now?”

Ron stiffens at that, “It’s not something that I did Hermione, it is something that happened to me, to all my family and us.” Harry and Neville’s mind starts to whirl at that declaration; he continues, “You know we were on a tour to Egypt; few days before we were supposed to return Bill, my eldest brother and the twins disappeared for an entire afternoon when they came back, they practically shoved us to the nearest port key station and brought us back. No one knew what was happening; Bill than took us straight to our grandfather at Weasley Hall. Then Bill and Grandfather had a long talk in their study, when they came out Grandfather was enraged; he took all of us to Gringotts and asked them for some sort of testing and purging. All of us including Mum and Dad had to undertake purging; we all had multiple potions, compulsion charms and blocks on memories. It was all done by none other than Dumbledore. Mum was so pissed at the headmaster for messing with her children that Dad and Grandfather had to physically restrain her from going after the old coot. And it’s not all of it, we found out that headmaster was stealing from Harry’s vault and depositing in my, mum’s and Ginny’s name. we didn’t even have any idea at all. Don’t worry Harry Grandfather took care of it. Everything that was deposited in our name has been sent back to the original vault.”

“Oh, and Grandfather and dad made up and now we all are accepted back in our family. We are staying at Weasley hall from now on. Bill was given his heirship ring after that. Grandmother has informed that we will be going through pureblood etiquettes classes to learn everything. Yeah it has been only three days so it is kind of a lot to process.”

Hermione is gritting her teeth, how dare he tried to control them when they can’t even protest or do anything about it. They have their own rights and opinions; how someone succeeded in controlling entire wizarding population that too without their knowledge was beyond her understanding,

Harry and Neville breathed a sigh of relief, he didn’t want to admit but he was scared that he might lose his first friend; granted that he wasn’t feeling close with them right at the moment seeing as his friendship with Ron was planned by Dumbledore. He took Leo from Neville and started playing with him; Hermione asks, “Neville, when did you get a niffler and how come he is here with you, you know some creatures are not allowed as pets in school.”

Neville chuckles, “Meet Leo you guys, we got him from Magical Menagerie weeks ago, and yes I know some creatures are not allowed as pets, but Leo is my familiar, so I can bring him with me to school.”

Ron smiles, “Cool, we can go on treasure hunts on the grounds with him, you know niffler are well known for their finding abilities.” Harry smirks and says, “Wait until you guys meet Shresha, you are going to love her. She is an absolute menace.”

Hermione furrows her brows, “Who is Shresha Harry?” Harry gives her an evil grin, “She is my familiar Hermione. You will meet her soon once we are back at school.”

After that they fall back into their usual friendly bickering. Hermione and Ron share their experience of travelling to France and Egypt respectively. Harry and Neville share what they learned over the summer. Ron and Harry argued over which elective class to attend. Harry didn’t want to inform Hermione that he was taking all the subjects since she tends to be rather competitive. It was raining outside; the windows were now solid, shimmering grey, which gradually darkened until lanterns flickered into life all along the corridors, when train started to slowed down.

“We must be nearly there,” said Ron, he got up; tried to see outside, “Brilliant, I’m starving. I want to get to the feast…”

“We can’t be there yet.” Said Hermione checking her watch. Neville and Harry were sharing concerning looks which did not go unnoticed by Hermione. Ron asks, “Then why are we stopping?”

The train came to a stop with a jolt and distant thuds and bangs told them luggage had fallen out if racks. Then, without warning, all lamps went out and they were plunged into total darkness. Harry saw something move outside even in darkness. He shoots up from his seat; turns to Neville, “Nev, dementors”

Neville went pale and stands up as well. He comments, “Harry, the first years, specially muggleborns.”

They both take out their wands; Harry turns to Ron and Hermione, “We are going out, use locking charms once we are out and do not go wandering around it’s not safe. We will be back; hopefully soon.”

Then he turns to Neville who nods once, casts Lumos and they leave. Hermione asks multiple questions but both of them ignores her and leave. Hermione does what Harry asked her and takes her seat.

Harry and Neville are going through all the compartment one by one and tells everyone to lock their compartment and to not come out until they reach the school.

Further down the corridor Harry found a compartment where two first year girls and a man are sitting, both girls seem pretty shaken up; Harry informs Neville, “I will stay with them, you look out for the others.”

He turns his wand towards the girls faces; both of them are identical twins. They both have similar facial features and both have ocean blue eyes; only difference between them is their hair, one girl has dark brown hair whereas other one has dirty blond hair. He takes a seat beside them and asks, “Are you guys alright?”

They both are shivering, they shake their heads and replies, “No, it’s freezing.” Harry nods and casts a warming charm on both of them and coddles them under his arm, “Don’t worry, everything will be fine.” Time seems to stand still for hours; Harry is getting drowsy and his body is getting shut down because of cold. Out of his peripheral vision Harry sees a hand with skeleton fingers reach the door of their compartment; he quickly shielded the girls behind him.

It opened and Harry could see a clocked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden underneath the hood. Before Harry could do anything the dementor, it took a slow rattling breath as though it was trying to suck something more from its surrounding. An even intense cold swept over them all. Harry felt his own breath catch in his chest. The cold went deeper than his skin. It was inside his chest; it was inside his very heart.

And then from far away, he heard screaming, terrible, terrified, pleading screams. He wanted to help whoever it was, he tried to move but he couldn’t and then he felt himself losing consciousness. He suddenly felt cold hand on his cheek.

He slowly opened his eyes; “Harry! Harry! Are you all right?” Neville asks.

He asks, “What?” the lanterns above him were lit; and the floor was shaking, Hogwarts Express was moving again. Neville and some shabby looking man were kneeling beside him, he could see the twins on the side. Harry felt very sick, Neville helped him get back to his seat. He again asked, “Are you okay?”

He answered, “yeah,” he nervously glanced at the door, “What happened? Where were you? Who screamed?”

Neville giving him concerned looks; he replied, “No one screamed Harry.” Harry stutters, “But I heard some woman’s screams Nev.” The man behind Neville gave him a piece of chocolate and said, “Eat it, you will feel better. I need to speak with the driver. Excuse me.”

Then he left them alone, Neville says, “You should eat it, I will inform Ron and Hermione that you are alright; lest they will rile up entire train.”

Harry turn towards the twins and asks, “Are you guys alright?” They shake their heads and replies together, “We are fine.” Harry thinks they seem just like the Weasley twins.

He asks them to take their seats; when they start shooting questions at him one after the other.

“What was that thing?’

“Why was it here?”

“Why did you faint?”

“Are you alright?”

“Who are you?”

“Who was the other boy?”

“Why did you protect us?”

Harry tries to follow but shakes his head in fondness, “That was Dementor. It shouldn’t have been here on the train. I don’t know why I fainted. Yes, I am fine. I am Harry Potter. The other boy was my brother Neville. And of course, I’d protect you. You guys are just kids.”

Both twins took at him like he is some out of the world creature than shrugs, “Okay,”

“I am Ivy Evanston”

“I am Iris Evanston”

Then Harry started chatting animatedly with the twins; what he didn’t know was that those two girls would become worst twins of terror ever known by Hogwarts.

~

After saying goodbyes to Harry, Draco found Blaise and both of them boarded the train; after saying goodbyes to his parents.

Both of them found an empty compartment and settled down. They were catching up with each other when the door suddenly yanked open and Theo and Pansy entered; both glaring daggers at them. Draco caught up the meaning behind it and tried to placate them, “Hello, guys I hope you both enjoyed your summer.”

Pansy crosses his arms against her chest and hisses, “Don’t start Draco, I am very cross with both of you right now.”

Blaise throws his hands in air and says, “Whoa, Pans; what did I do now?”

“Really, Blaise; you dare ask me; what didn’t you do. Neither of you replied to any of my owls during summer except for one formal owl from Draco. Both of you have ghosted me and Theo for entire summer and I hope to Merlin that you better have a good explanation otherwise I will hex you straight into next week.”

Both Draco and Blaise shuddered hearing that; they knew Pansy was quite a vindictive bitch when she wanted to be, they immediately tried to explain themselves without mentioning both Harry and Neville.

Four of them had decided that it wasn’t wise to let anyone know about their friendship; not until they have dealt with Dumbledore. They couldn’t trust anyone with that kind of knowledge; so far only their family knew about them being on friendly terms and their mate status. All of them trusted their respective friends with their secrets but telling them about their creature inheritance and mate felt too intimate.

After telling them summery of their entire summer; they finally lapse into their usual banter and barbs; when raining got heavier and atmosphere suddenly dropped. They were lost into a debate about the electives when suddenly train started slowing down and after a few minutes train stops with a jolt and entire compartment was covered in darkness.

Blaise saw something move outside the window, and then suddenly a chill went to their spine remembering the warning given by Draco’s father. They both got up to their feet and pulled out their wands; Draco informs Pansy and Theo, “Ward the door behind us and do not leave under any circumstances.”

Both of them left without saying a word after that. Draco’s mind was running on a mile; he was worried about Harry, Neville and Luna. Whenever something disastrous happened; Harry was at the centre of it and now Neville would be with him as well, and Luna was a sweet angel; he would never allow anyone to hurt her intentionally or otherwise.

Both of them knew they couldn’t do much about dementors but heavily powered Lumos would at least help them escape should something happen, both Draco and Blaise padded down the corridor closing and warding the compartment behind them without giving them notice; since they didn’t have time for explanations.

Draco found Luna sitting alone in an empty compartment; she was shivering due to cold atmosphere. Draco mutters a curse under his breath and enters the compartment, “Hey Luna.”

She looks pale and her teeth are chattering; Draco takes her one side and Blaise moves to other and both try to give her warmth. They casted warming charms on all of them, but they sometimes prove ineffective against dementors. It seems like time stood still; but after fifteen minutes or so lanterns flickered back to life and train slowly started moving.

~

Harry had spent rest of the train ride with the twins; getting to know them. Both girls were raised by their grandparents, who were muggles. Neither of them had any contact with Wizarding world before getting their letter. Harry could sympathise with them since he had gone through the same shock and confusions just two years ago.

After talking with both of them; Harry realised Ivy had cunning and calculating personality whereas Iris had bubbly and cheerful personality but when you consider them as unit it was almost terrifying to know that they both could rule the world if they wanted to. Harry felt protective towards them; he was a single child and was raised in isolation so his heart went out to both of them. He considered Neville his big brother but he wanted someone younger than him. And for some reason he felt drawn towards them, it was like his soul knew what they meant to him but he couldn’t fathom why? As far as he knew he didn’t have any living family at all. It was frustrating to say the least but when both the girls were looking at him with the same appreciation and adoration; he knew he would do anything to protect them.

Neville came back with his messenger bag and asked him to get changed into school robes. He went to bathroom and quickly changed into school uniform. As soon as he was ready the train whistled and they had reached Hogsmeade station.

He took Ivy and Iris hand and said, “First years are taken to Hogwarts via boats so I won’t be with you but I will see you at the feast okay. Don’t worry and don’t cause any trouble.”

Then Harry and Neville left them with other first years and went towards carriages, when Neville informs, “We need to visit Kitchens before the feast starts; we have to talk with house elves about potions.”

Harry asks, “Alright but do you know where kitchen is?”

Neville nods, “I asked Weasley twins; they knew. Kitchen is located in Hufflepuff basement behind a painting; we have to tickle a pear for it to open.”

Harry chuckles and joins the rest of the gang leaving the conversation there. Hermione asks, “Where have you been Harry? We were worried sick about you.”

Harry huffs, “I was with Ivy and Iris; they were scared due to darkness. I couldn’t just abandon them; you know.”

Ron asks, “Who’s Ivy and Iris Harry?”

Harry shrugs, “You will meet them soon enough.” And he drops the topics; four of them share the carriage towards Hogwarts. Harry remembers that they need to visit Kitchen so he must inform Blaise and Draco as well.

He took out his wand and slightly tap his bracelet; murmuring the message discreetly and then put his wand back into holster.

_We have to visit kitchen before the feast; meet us in Hufflepuff corridor once you reach Hogwarts._

Once they reach Hogwarts Harry excuses himself saying he needs to visit Madam Pomphrey and left with Neville. They soon disappeared into the corridors and reached the Hufflepuff basement where Draco and Blaise were waiting already.

Draco takes one look at Harry and asks, “What happened? You look like you haven’t seen sun for years, seeing that you have rich olive skin; something dreadful must have happened on the train.”

Neville sighs, “He fainted after a Dementor took liking to him.” Draco mutters, “Why am I not surprised. It didn’t touch you did it? Are you alright?” touching his shoulder; scanning his entire body looking for sign of injuries or discomfort.

Harry nods, “No it didn’t touch me but it might have; I don’t know what happened after I fainted though.”

Neville says, “The shabby looking man from the compartment threw a spell on the dementor and it left afterwards.”

Blaise diverts the topic, “We need to go back to great hall; we should finish out task first.”

They all nod, Neville steps forwards and tickle the pear on the painting and it opens; revealing entryway to kitchen. They stepped forward and enters.

All the house elves look up and stops doing their tasks and chores. They chorused together, “Masters has returned” They all look at each other trying to understand.

Harry asks, “Okay, who is in charge here?”

An elderly looking elf comes forward and chirps, “That would be Blimpy masters.”

Afterwards four of them explain the house elves that under no circumstance they are to use the potions in the food given by Dumbledore; and if the old headmaster tries something else, they should contact any one of them instantly. All house elves seem to be happy with the announcement; they readily agreed and also assured them that they had power to override Headmasters orders even if they were still underage.

They all gave them a few more order and introduced their personal elves and soon left for the feast. Harry didn’t want to miss sorting ceremony at all remembering twins of terror.

~

They decided that Draco and Blaise would enter first and soon after sometime Harry and Neville would enter the Great hall. As agreed first went Draco and Blaise and then afterwards Harry and Neville entered the hall; they took their seats opposite Ron and Hermione, Harry could see Draco across the hall.

As soon as Harry and Neville took the seats, four of them heard a female voice giving them instructions, “Welcome, Heirs of Hogwarts. I have been waiting for you for many years now. I won’t be able to communicate with you again until you reach your inheritance; there is a library specially made for Heirs of Hogwarts on third floor which will provide you all the assistance you might need until you are of age. That is all I can do for you right now, Good luck Founders’ Heirs.”

Harry, Neville, Draco and Blaise were the only ones who heard that voice, they schooled their expressions and concentrated on their surroundings.

Soon, McGonagall leads first years into Great Hall, people were happily catching up with their friends. Harry’s eyes went straight towards the twins.

McGonagall started announcing names of students alphabetically; one by one many students were sorted into Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Harry and Neville were clapping for all the sorted students; when Hermione raised her eyebrow in question; Harry shrugged, “Do you remember how terrified we were at the time of sorting. I wouldn’t do anything to isolate first years. They are just children.”

Hermione smiles and Ron shrugs; but afterwards entire house joins them in clapping; after a few students sorting it seems entire student body is welcoming every student.

Then McGonagall shouts, “Evanston Iris”

Iris slowly steps forwards and sits on the three-legged stool; McGonagall put the sorting hat over her head. After a few seconds the hat roars, “GRYFFINDOR”

Harry leaps from his seat and claps excitedly; Iris for her part seems relieved and she runs straight to Harry; entire school sees them embracing. Harry laughs with her and settle her in between him and Neville. Everyone starts murmuring, who she was and how come she was so close to Harry Potter already.

Then McGonagall shouts, “Evanston Ivy”

Harry, Iris and Neville quickly looks over towards her, unlike Iris, Ivy strolls towards the stool and takes her seat with ease. Prof McGonagall places the hat on her head, it takes more than three minutes for hat to make up its mind but finally it thunders, “SLYTHERIN”

Harry and Iris gets up from their seats and claps enthusiastically for Ivy, she makes a detour and comes to Iris hugs her than Harry and goes straight to Slytherin table. Where Draco and Blaise take her under their wing and settle her between them.

Ron questions, “Mate, when did you become chummy with slimy snakes?”

Harry glares at him, “Ron, I will talk to the entire house when we are in common room, for now if you have nothing kind to say than keep your mouth shut.”

Ron looks like a kicked puppy, but Harry doesn’t seem to care at this point. Entire house has heard him reprimand Ron, so they all are subdued as well.

Once the sorting is done, Dumbledore gets up from his chair and gives them warning about Dementors; after a while he introduces the new professors.

“On happier note, I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. First Professor Remus Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill in the post of Defence Against Drack Arts teacher.”

At that Harry and Neville whips their heads towards the head table, the shabby looking man from the train earlier gets up and bowed graciously, Harry mutters curse under his breath; he could have talked to his magical guardian if only he had asked for his name earlier.

No matter, now that he knows where he is. Harry will make sure he clears out all the confusion and problems between them. He was mentally preparing list of all the things that he needs to do. It was going to be a very long year.

“As to our second new appointment,” Dumbledore continued as the lukewarm applause for Professor Lupin died away. “Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties.”

Gryffindor house roars with the applause while other houses gave him more sedate clapping. After that the feast was served, all the students were happily chatting with their friends; first years were trying to get friendly with their new houses.

They all finished their dinner and deserts happily, after which Dumbledore send them off to their common rooms. During entire feast Dumbledore had kept one eye on Harry; he was most displeased with his weapon; he had spent rest of the summer with Longbottom child at his manor; without asking for permission. He would need to keep a reign on him.

Once all of them reached portrait of Fat Lady, Percy gave the password, “Fortuna Major.” all of them scrambled into the common room of Gryffindor tower. Harry and Neville had silent conversation; whether or not discuss it tonight or tomorrow. But their discussion was cut short by Ron’s abrupt reaction, “Harry, mate why the hell would you insult me like that in front of everyone; specially in great hall.”

Harry takes deep breath; he should have guessed he would react like that. He nods at Neville who smiles leaves to find his Hufflepuff companions; since they would be having the same conversation as well; he stands up, “I would address it soon but first I need to talk to first years.”

Entire Gryffindor common room is deathly silent; he had gained attention of them all; “All the first years will step forward.” All firsties scrambles; comes forwards, Harry begins, “House of Gryffindor is known for its Courage, Bravery, Daring, Determination and Chivalry. Those are the traits of your house; it will be your duty to uphold them during your stay at Hogwarts. This is house is your home for the next seven years; you belong in this house as much as this house belongs to you. No amount of slacking off or fooling around will be tolerated; agreed that this is all new for you but the novelty of it will eventually wear off, you are here to study and gain new information, your first and foremost priority should be your studies only. If you face any problems or you have queries regarding your homework and such; you are to ask for help to your fellow housemates. You should approach forth and sixth year mostly, as third, fifth and seventh years are either facing important exams or facing new subjects. If someone is bullying you or harassing you be it physically, mentally or psychologically, you are to contact prefects or head boy or head girl or your head of the house. You are not to bully or harass first years from other house, they are going through the same changes as you, be kind and open towards all. Never form your opinion for other on the basis of someone else’s word. You must form your own opinions on your own experience. There is legendary rivalry between Slytherin house and Gryffindor house, which going forward we all will try to eliminate. You have one day to adjust with the new environment before your class starts. That is all for now, all the first years, curfew starts at nine; you will all go to your dorms and get ready for bed, except Iris, you will stay behind. Rest of you Goodnight go on then.”

Once he was done; entire house was gobsmacked with his speech, he could see all of them were standing with their mouths hanging open. Hermione couldn’t even believe her ears; it was like Harry whom she had known was completely gone. The person standing in front of her was much more confident, strong and someone who knew what he was doing. Ron and Hermione shared a concerned glance between them; even without knowledge Harry was force to reckoned with but now when he seemed to have gain more information, it was looking like he was almost unstoppable.

Harry starts with the rest of them, “Now that is out of the way, all of you are asked to stay for a reason, I am pretty sure you all have undergone purging during your summer holidays.”

At that everyone stiffened a little bit, Katy Bell asked, “How did you found about that?”

Harry chuckles, “I was the one who discovered it in the first place; if it wasn’t for me you all would still be under those potion and charms.”

They all grimaced at that; Angelina questions, “But who’s to say that we won’t be subjected to them again like before?”

They all nodded; Harry answers, “No you won’t, it has been taken care of; no one and I mean no one will ever be subjected to those again. I won’t give you any particulars how I managed it so let’s leave it at that.”

“Now, first years are easy to guide since they are not yet corrupted with prejudice and biased opinions. But you, all of you have been brought up with certain beliefs which are not inherently true; from now on you will work on your own assumptions and past encounters, just like you everyone else I mean entire student body was subjected to those potions including Slytherin house; what I want from you is very simple; don’t give in to your old opinions of them, give them a chance to know you and get to know them before regarding them as enemies or evil; no one is evil at the age of eleven yet we all subject them to scrutiny because of their sorting into one house. I am not saying to befriend them outright or being friendly; keep your distance but try and get to know them, try to understand their point of view and their surroundings. You might be surprised by how caring and loyal they can be.

Nevertheless, those of you who grew up in pureblood family or wizarding family are in charge of teaching the first years, muggleborns and half-bloods about our wizarding culture. We need to preserve our culture, I am not talking about pureblood culture, I am talking about wizarding culture. They are part of our world; they should know about the world to which they belong. Teach them etiquettes and rules of our world, I don’t want them to become enemies or have a blood feud with some pureblood family just because they didn’t know better. All of those who will learn these things will meet me tomorrow evening in the common room, since you don’t belong to any old family you won’t have family magic to protect you; hence I will teach you how to cast a few charms which are helpful in checking if your food is compromised in same way.

Those of you who are heirs of heiress of Ancient and Noble families will teach the rest of the house mates occlumency. I do not want the old headmaster to know anything about our discoveries; which is why you all must protect your minds from outside intrusion. Any questions?”

When he was finished, they were all gaping like fishes, Harry chuckles and takes a seat on the sofa near the fireplace. He gives them some time to process what he just said, meanwhile he calls Hinky. “Hinky”

She appears in front of him, beside him Iris jumps back terrified of the elf. Harry snickers, “Come here Iris, I want you to meet my personal house elf Hinky, she helps me out with some of my work and looks after me.”

Iris looks sceptical but offers her hand, “Hello, I am Iris Evanston.” Hinky gives him a bright smile and says, “Hello little missy. You is very kind like master Harry.”

Harry orders Hinky, “Hinky, please organise my trunk and rest of belongings in the dorms, I want to take the bed near the window, Neville will take the bed next to mine; ask Rinky to organise his stuff as he will be late due to meetings. Can you please make a strong masala chai I am really exhausted; and we have still a lot to discuss. And you are to come if Iris calls you okay.”

Hinky bobs her head, “Of course Master Harry.” Then disappears with a pop.

Rest of the house saw the interactions and were discussing things with each other. Harry seemed very attached with the first-year girl. They were yet again gossiping the nature of their relation.

Harry was quietly talking with Iris explaining her a few things, since he had taken her under his wings she and Ivy were bound to be targeted by the old coot, he needs to prepare them for that. Iris listens raptly but soon after she started yawning so Harry informs her, “Its been a long day, I do have a lot to tell you but it can wait; you need a good night’s rest, I think you should retire to your dorms, Alright trouble.” Iris nods tiredly and gives him a side hug and then leaves.

When Harry is sure that Iris is no longer in hearing distance; he straightens up his back and gives them the coldest look they have ever seen, “I will say this once and only once, both Iris and Ivy are my little sisters; anyone going after them will have to face me first. So, be careful what you say about them because I will not tolerate any kind of slurs or bad mouthing against them. Do I make myself clear?”

The temperature of the entire common room dropped certain degree; no one wanted to go against the boy who had defeated the dark lord at least thrice already. So, they briefly nodded and moved the conversation towards quidditch.

Before he began another discussion Hinky appeared in front of him and gave him his chai, “Hinky be reminding master Harry to take his potions before bed.”

Harry chuckles and asks her to fetch his daily nutrients potions, he takes them and finally settles himself on the couch. He is savouring his masala chai when Neville enters the common room, he sits beside Harry and asks, “How did it go?”

Harry chuckles, “I have explained as best as I could barring in depth details; they are still processing it all. How did it go with Hufflepuffs?”

Neville sighs and runs his hands over his face, “Cedric and Susan have taken charge for now, so they are somewhat sorted! I guess. We will see how it goes in next few days. Did you take your potions?”

Harry smiles, “Yes I did, come one lets retire to bed, I am exhausted right now.”

They both got up from their seats and faces the common room, everyone was still contemplating what to do next, Harry declares, “Since, you don’t have any questions for me right now; I will see you all tomorrow morning, you should all sleep on it and we can continue this conversation tomorrow. Alright Good night guys, come on Nev.”

Both Harry and Neville left them in their thoughts.

Harry quickly changed his clothes to pyjamas, get under covers and pulls out his diary that was gifted by Draco.

_Hey Draco_

After a while Draco replied.

_Hey Harry, how did it go with Gryffindors, did they listen to you?_

_Yes, for now they did hear me out, will see tomorrow if they actually agreed or not. How did it go with Slytherins and Ravenclaws?_

_All of Slytherins were aware of manipulations and potions, we explained them what was going on, they all agreed to give every house a wide birth before stereotyping them, they will not hex or torment the students from other houses. But in great hall they have agreed to maintain the hostility with Gryffindors just to prove to old coot that everything is same as he wanted._

_Hmm I will have to talk to lions about it. And what about the claws?_

_Oh, Luna and Anthony have taken charge, they have informed Penelope Clearwater and Roger Davis since they are from upper years, they are more likely to listen to them. we will see how everyone reacts._

_That’s good, Since Prof Snape is clear of all the potions you won’t be facing any issue but we have to check on the other heads of the houses as well as other professors._

_Hmmm, we will take care of that as well, stop fretting Harry; its our first night back at Hogwarts. Now, would you like to explain the two troubles that you have taken under your wings._

_Oh, them; well you know how I fainted on the train it was because I was shielding them from the dementor. Afterwards I spend the rest of the train ride getting to know them, they both are from muggle world and they were raised by their grandparents, I don’t know but I saw myself in them Draco, they were so frightened and confused with all this sudden change, I kind of felt protective over them; besides I have always wanted siblings who would play with me or torment me; so I kind of got attached to them and for some reason I feel it in my bones that they are more important to me somehow. I know I shouldn’t get involved with random people but my instincts were screaming at me that they were my family so I just did what felt right._

_Its alright, it was kind of cute seeing you mothering them, I will tell Pansy to Take Ivy under her wings to teach her everything she needs to learn as a respectable witch. Don’t worry. And if you consider them family you can blood adopt them as siblings but that could wait after a few years; will see how it all goes._

_Really, I didn’t know you could blood adopt another person as siblings, I have so much to learn. Godric it seems I am still behind in everything._

_Its alright Harry, you will learn everything at your own pace. Don’t worry. Now I think we should call it a night and get some sleep; we do have a hectic day tomorrow._

_Yes, you right; You must be tired as well. Good night Draco._

_Good night Harry, I will see you tomorrow._

~

Next morning entire castle woke up early; by the time of breakfast every single student from each house was present in the great hall. Harry had warned all the lions about behaving as usual towards Slytherins in great hall for old coot’s benefit. They had the upper hand as of now and Harry wanted to keep it that way as long as possible.

All the professors were shocked with such rushed activity. Each head of the house gave the first years their time table and asked all the third years to meet them in their study to discuss the elective subjects.

Harry and Neville asked Prof McGonagall to meet them at last when everyone else were done with their meetings; so that they would get enough time to visit the library mentioned by Hogwarts.

They finished their breakfast in hurry and left the great hall; they reached the third year together when out of the blue a large double door appeared on the wall, they all looked at each other silently agreed to enter together, when they stepped inside they were shocked to see the rows upon rows of books; this library was even bigger than the other library that was meant for students.

Draco comments, “Merlin, would look at these books, these are from time of founders. Salazar there is so much knowledge here.”

They all started wondering in the depth of the library. On the side, there was seating area where large comfortable looking sofas were situated in front of fireplace.

Draco looked around and found the entire section on their elemental abilities, he picked out a book which was _Basic guide for control over Air element_ and settled on one end of couch. Harry was looking over books specifically about Hogwarts he found one which was about how the four founders built the castle from their own magic.

Neville found the book for herbology wrote by Helga Hufflepuff and Blaise took the about healing and they all settled around. They were all lost in their own books when Harry cast tempus charm, “Guys, it is already twelve o’clock; we should head back to great hall to see how everyone else are faring. I also need to talk to both Iris and Ivy. Let’s go”

They placed their respective books on the coffee table and left the library in pairs. When Harry and Neville reached the great hall, they saw everyone talking with each other and getting along.

Harry took seat beside Iris and asks her, “So, what did you do this morning trouble?” Iris shrugs, “Got the time table from Prof McGonagall, read through first chapters of Charms and Transfiguration, hung out with other first years in common room; but I miss Ivy, we have spent our entire life together and now just because we are in different house, we can’t even eat together.”

Harry looks at Iris and then at Ivy who has similar forlorn expression on her face, she is sulking at Slytherin table as well. He chuckles and gets up from his seat; goes straight to Slytherin table; entire great hall falls silent when Harry finally reached the table, Draco looks up at him with grim expression, “Potter, did you forget your way to the lions table?”

“Shut up, Malfoy.” he turns to Ivy and says, “Your sister misses you, want to seat with us during lunch?”

Ivy’s face visibly brightens and she instantly gets up and leaves with Harry, when they reach the Gryffindor table, Iris hugs her and they sat down between Neville and Harry. They quickly got busy in the discussion of their dorms and timetable; both of them finding they had at least four classes together. They were relieved to hear this.

Everyone started eating as well and forgot the entire encounter. Harry and Neville met McGonagall after lunch to discuss their electives. During the meeting they were informed that Harry could take all the electives but not attend all the classes, he would have to meet all the professors to discuss about notes and their assignments and getting a tutor for each subject and self-study as well. Harry informed her about her familiar; McGonagall gave him a pinched expression and warned him to be careful about other students’ safety since he had a very poisonous snake as familiar as well as instructed him to keep a bottle of anti-venom for any cases of emergencies.

During the meeting Harry discreetly casted a diagnostic spell to figure out if Prof McGonagall was given potions as well or not. They finished their rest of meeting without any difficulty and left. When they were going meet other Professors Harry opened the parchment to see the results of the diagnostic spell, and as predicted she was given potions as well, they decided to meet every other professor just to find out more proof.

By the end of afternoon, Harry and Neville had met every single professor on staff at Hogwarts, once they were done with those meetings, Both of them went back to Gryffindor common room, Harry wrote a in depth letter explaining the results they had gotten; he asked Farlig to request meeting with the professor with some pretence and clear them of all potions and compulsion spells. He quickly sealed the letter with the other parchments containing the results and asked Hinky to deliver that letter urgently to Farlig. 

Everyone was gathered in common room in the afternoon waiting for Harry to address them, since he had essentially taken the mantle of Prince of Gryffindor. When Harry got down from dormitory to common room, entire room fell silent; Lavender Brown approached him, “Evening, Heir Potter.”

Harry nods, “Evening Heiress Brown. Please call me Harry; How can I help you?”

Lavender explains, “Than please call me Lavender, well as you instructed us yesterday to prepare the muggleborns, half bloods and first years, I would like to offer my assistance in this matter. I will take first year’s girls as well as rest of the girls who has not received any formal training to be a respectable witch. Only if you permit me so.”

He agrees, “That will work well, what about the boys?” Neville approached from behind and said, “Actually Harry, I was thinking we should train them, since we are both going through the same.”

Harry groans, “Nev, we won’t have time, at least I won’t; you know I have taken more than two subjects; we also have to think about out rest of responsibilities without adding more, this year is going to be hectic as it is.”

Everyone seems to seeing the entire conversation, Both Ron and Hermione are seeing Harry’s changed behaviour; he hasn’t even approached them properly since train ride. Ron is fuming internally; Harry was supposed to be his mast mate and he has completely ignored him as well as insulted him. Hermione’s ears perk up as Harry mentions more than two subjects; she will have to find out which subjects he had taken soon.

Neville sighs, “I know, which is why I will lead these sessions when you are busy with other things, don’t worry we will both work out the rest.” Harry begrudgingly agreed. Then he asked all of those who were to receive formal training to step forward, it seemed only Lavender, Parvati and Oliver were free of this training since they belonged to pureblood families.

He taught them few charms and diagnostic spell he had learned from the Potter Palace library. Even first years seemed to get the hang of it easily. When he was sure that everyone had learnt those properly, he, Lavender and Neville sat aside and prepared a proper time schedule to take these sessions. They had cover students from each year which will make their task even more tiresome; but they were determined to make the best of this situation, Neville explained that spending this much time with rest of the house even training them, it will create a much deeper bond between all of them. Once they were done with that Harry decided it was time to talk with his so-called friends, he wasn’t sure if he could trust them yet.

Harry sat between Hermione and Ron and says, “I am pretty sure, you have millions of questions Hermione.”

Hermione exclaims, “Of course, Harry you haven’t talked with us since yesterday and had been busy with god knows what, I cannot understand all this fuss about pureblood etiquettes and training is, I mean we muggleborns are part of this world as well, why should we change our way of life for benefit of others!”

Ron internally cringed, he knew that muggleborns are part of the world but Harry had explained that they were learning wizarding culture not pureblood culture, for someone who is supposed to be brightest among them, Hermione could be so dense sometime.

Harry took a deep breath and tried to reel in his frustration, “Alright than, let me ask you something first. You recently visited France right.” Hermione gave him a confused nod.

“You were there only for few days right, if you were to move to France, would you except the all the French people to change their culture for you?”

Hermione shrunk back and said, “No, of course not, they cannot change it just for one person.”

“Right than, you say you are a witch, you are going to be part of this world after you finish Hogwarts yet you are not ready to learn about the wizarding world. And tell me why should the rest of the wizarding world change their ways for you or muggleborns, you may be muggleborns but at the end of the day you are still a witch; which means you have a duty towards the world you belong to.”

Hermione felt chastised, she hadn’t thought about it that way, it was true she couldn’t deny that without sounding like a hypocrite. She sat back and started mulling things over, yes, she was learning new things but they were all about the subjects and study related; she still didn’t know anything about wizarding culture or heritage at all. She made mistake by disregarding what Harry had explained yesterday.

“Alright Harry you are right, I will learn all that I need to but we will talk about it in depth later, now which subjects have chosen as electives. You said you took more than two.”

Harry explains, “I have taken Study of Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures. I would attend Ancient runes and Care of Magical Creatures classes; I will need to find a tutor for Arithmancy. What about you Ron?”

Ron glares at him, “Mate we were supposed to take Divination and care of magical creatures together, seems like you abandoned me again. What is wrong with you, you didn’t talk to me before choosing subjects, you still haven’t apologised for insulting me in great hall or for ignoring us.”

Harry stands up abruptly and seethes, “I don’t owe you anything at all Ron, specially any explanation to why I chose different subjects than you, its because we are different people, I have different interest than you, and I haven’t talked to you because I have been busy cleaning the mess that the old coot has made for years. I won’t apologise about berating you in great hall at all, because you were out of line there, insulting entire house specially in front of Iris knowing her sister was sorted there a mere second ago, I know you are dense but I didn’t know you didn’t even have a heart. Insulting an eleven-year-old girl in front of her sister, I am pretty sure your mum would be appalled by your behaviour if she knew. I didn’t insult you Ron I only reprimanded you surely you must know the difference between that.

One last thing just because I have been spending time with Nev, does not mean I am ignoring you, you may have been my best friend but it was all orchestrated by the old coot to control me, so spare me with all of your whining, I will choose with whomever I spend my time with, and it doesn’t concern anyone least of all you.”

With that he turned around and left the common room. Entire common room fell silent, Hermione scolded Ron, “Really, Ronald, he told us how he was the most affected person because of this all and you behave like an entitled prat towards him, what did you expect, of course he would react that way, he is not even sure that we are friends or not. You should have given him some space.”

Nev adds, “I know you don’t like me taking all of his time but let me warn you about one thing, He may have been your friend in the past but he is my little brother, even if he has to choose between your friendship and me, he will always choose family. So be careful next time, be an understanding friend he needs right now.”

Neville also left after that. So, did the rest of the people, within a few minutes Ron was standing alone in the middle of common room. It downed to him that he may have royally screwed up.

~

Next few days passes by, in flurry of activities, they are all busy with their new classes and all the teachers started giving them homework from very first day.

Four days in the term and they already had one essay for Transfiguration, one for charms and one for ancient runes lined up, today they had herbology first, then double potions and later care of magical creatures. It was a hectic day indeed; Harry was trying his best to ignore Ron’s pleas of forgiveness and focus on his school work. He was not in mood to have another debate with Ron over something trivial yet again. Harry and Draco continued their long nightly conversations in the diaries, Harry was really glad that Draco had gifted them such a useful gift.

All of their classes were with Slytherin today which was going to cause him severe headache; in Herbology they were working with Puffapod that day, everything was going smoothly in class until Ron accidently dropped some of the beans onto the floor which cause them to bloom instantly; Prof Sprout took ten points from Gryffindor for Ron’s blunders; causing everyone to glare at him. After the class Ron incidentally fled the greenhouse before anyone could say anything to him. They finished their lunch and reached dungeons for there double potions.

Harry and Neville both partnered up with each other; having worked together for over month, they were more attuned to each other’s work antics. They took up their seats on second work bench from the front and settle their work station. When Harry looked around to see with whom Ron had partnered up, he was sitting beside Hermione. which was good at least he won’t be able to lose house points with Hermione as his partner.

When the bell rang, Snape entered the class bellowing his long black robes behind him like a bat that he was, and stood in front of the class, “Today you will be making Shrinking Solution for which you were to write an essay during summer, put it on my desk, retrieve your ingredients from the cupboard and start working on your potion. All the necessary instructions are on the board.”

Everyone started shuffling from here to there, some went to deliver their essays, some went to take pout the ingredients, while Neville and Harry started working on their work station to make it more efficient for them; after a while Harry went to pick out their ingredients.

Soon after they started working on their potion, Harry started extracting blood from shrivelfigs while Neville was chopping daisy roots finely. Everyone was working diligently on their potions; it was really difficult potion. Much to everyone’s surprise Harry and Neville’s potion was almost perfect and about to be done when Harry saw Draco slip few more rat spleen in their potion which caused their potion to explode, Harry had casted Protego over both of them in a split second, saving them both, He looked at Draco who eyed his bracelet and got back to work. Snape bellowed, “Mr Potter, Mr. Longbottom, even separately you two can cause enough harm to last a decade, together both of you might just level Hogwarts with your utter stupidity. Ten points from Gryffindor for your ineptitude and sheer lack of intelligence. And seeing as you both cannot even prepare simple potions, you will both be tutored by my two best students. Mr Malfoy you will tutor Mr Potter and Mr Zabini you will tutor Mr Longbottom. See me after class for your further instructions.”

After that rest of the class was spent in complete silence. Once the class was finished everyone except Draco, Harry, Blaise and Neville left without a backword glance. They approached Snape when Harry shoved Draco’s shoulder, “At least give a warning beforehand if you are planning something.”

Draco glares at him, “I did, I even gave you a hint, did you look at your bracelet. It’s not my fault that you are a complete moron.”

Snape cut their conversation short, “Alright, you two, we have much to discuss before you need to leave for your next class. Today’s explosion was just an excuse so that you four can spend time together without raising any suspicions; more importantly I wanted to inform you that everyone on the staff had gotten summons from Gringotts saying they have found some discrepancies in the audits. I assume that you are behind this action.”

Harry replies, “Yes, me and Neville met all the professors, found that all of them are under potions much like everyone else. So, I sent the results to Farlig and asked him to take care of it.”

Snape nods, “Okay than, moving on; I found a new potion created by Lily in her journal, theoretically this can reverse all the damage done by cruciatus curse given at regular intervals. I have already discussed this with your grandmother Neville, she had given her permission to give this experimental treatment to your parents only if you agreed as well. This potion is the most complex potion I have ever seen and it will take at least six months to brew, you have time to mull it over, think about it; if you don’t agree I would understand it and Accept your decision.”

All four of them are now looking at Neville, who visibly shrunk and looked pensive; so, Harry decides to divert the attention to him, “Sir, all of my potions are almost about to finish, will you brew me another batch?”

Snape gives him a slight nod and declare, “That’s all I needed to discuss now move along, you only have five minutes to reach your next class.”

All four them left the dungeons without a single word. They were giving Neville some space to think this through, they all knew that Neville’s parents were very touchy subject for him. So, they decided to left it alone for now, if he doesn’t shake it off in a day or two, they will intertwine than.

~

They reached the edge of forbidden forest where they could see all of their classmates patting what looked like a horse but eagle, Harry had hard time understanding what the creature was; he asked Neville who had genuine interest in Care of magical creatures, he informed him that the creature in front of them was a hippogriff. They have head of a giant eagle and body of a horse and wings. He explained that they are highly proud creatures and approached with caution; entire class was divided into groups of three to four, since they were last to arrive, they formed their group and Hagrid led them towards a hippogriff who was tending his feathers on the side. Hagrid introduced him as Buckbeak and showed them how to approach them.

Class was going fine, four of them were getting familiar with Buckbeak, he was magnificent once the initial shock wears off. Harry even got to ride him for a while earning ten points to Gryffindor for his daring display.

Blaise and Draco rolled their eyes fondly when Buckbeak touched the ground after their flight. Draco decided that he wanted to try next, they were approaching him just as described by Hagrid, Draco was now patting Buckbeak’s feathers, when out of the blue Ron came towards Harry and started talking, “Look Harry, I know I messed up okay, I wasn’t demanding anything from you, its just that you are the first friend I made without any of my brothers involvement and up until this year I haven’t had to share you with anyone; we have been together since we sat on the train in two years ago, and suddenly you started behaving all differently so it kind of threw me off a little bit. I just wanted my friend back; that’s it.”

Harry looked at him in utter disbelief he was about to answer when Draco sneered instead, “Looks like you are demanding it anyways; not everything is about you Weasley.”

Ron turned bright red just like his hair and shouted, “Get stuffed Malfoy.” Which caused Buckbeak to startle and he attached the next person standing next to him, To Harry’s horror, He had to watch Hippogriff attack Draco, who had tumbled to the ground; at some point Hagrid came in between Draco and Buckbeak and shoved him away.

Draco’s left arm was bleeding badly, Hagrid carried Draco to infirmary and dismissed their class. Everyone watched entire incident happen; seeing Draco getting hurt because of Ron’s stupidity Harry lost his temper; he turned his eyes towards Ron and level him with a deadly glare. Everyone else visibly shrunk including Blaise and Neville; they knew how much close Draco and Harry had gotten so Ron was in for a surprise. Seeing Harry’s murderous gaze Ron took one or two steps back.

Harry hissed in a low voice, “Are you out of your fucking mind? Was that conversation so important that you couldn’t wait ten minutes until the class was over. And shouting near the highly temperamental creatures, it’s like you don’t have a single brain sell at all. And for your information I am behaving differently because I am a different person, the Harry potter you knew was under potions and charms; he wasn’t and isn’t real. The friend you are looking for no longer exist. Get that into that thick skull of yours, you imbecile, you could have costed someone’s life today because of your temper tantrums. Talk to me if you want to have a civilised conversation otherwise stay out of my way from now on. “

Harry turned around and leapt towards Hogwarts castle, his mate was hurt. Godric, he had never seen that much amount of blood before, he knew that Madam Pomphrey would patch him up just fine. But still he was worried, not even week had passed after school had started and they had already encountered so much drama; Harry was sure he would lose his mind before the year is finished.

He hoped that Narcissa and Lucius aren’t out of Hagrid’s blood. He was the one responsible for student’s safety; where he had failed miserably. Merlin, what a mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter, leave your thoughts below in comments. XOXO


	12. Third Year Part 2

Harry pondered the idea of getting in the infirmary under Invisibility cloak to see how Draco was doing but, he dismissed that idea immediately, he didn’t want to intrude when they were having somewhat private conversation.

So, he got back to his dorms and started working on the essay for charms. He worked diligently on it for an hour or so when Neville entered the dorms, “How are you feeling Harry?” He just shrugged and got back to his work; he wasn’t in the mood of talking to anyone. He ignored everyone until it was time for dinner, when he entered the great hall Ivy and Iris launched themselves on him, “Where were you? We have been looking for you all over the castle.”

He smiled, tension visibly reducing from his shoulders, listening to them his mood almost instantly brightened up. He spent rest of the dinner chatting with them and catching up with what they have been doing since the classes started. They didn’t get much time to talk due to their hectic schedules.

He got back to his dorms and fished out his diary started writing.

_Hey Draco, can we talk?_

He didn’t get an answer for half an hour, was staring at the blank page hoping that Draco would get a chance to write.

_Yes, we can talk, it’s my left arm that is in the cast I can still write you know._

_I am so sorry Draco, you got hurt because of me._

_What are you on about?_

_If I hadn’t been avoiding Ron than he wouldn’t have to force me to talk with him during class and this wouldn’t have happened. I am sorry Draco._

_Harry, not everything is your fault. I shouldn’t have egged him like that knowing his temper tantrums, I am very much at fault than you. It doesn’t matter; Madam Pomphrey patched me up, but since it is a magical injury, I must keep my arm in a cast for a few weeks. I am completely fine; don’t worry._

_Oh, okay. But still take care and listen to Madam Pomphrey, don’t overexert, otherwise you may have to stay there even more than necessary._

_Harry, look, I am sorry but every injury of any student has to be reported back to their parents, I tried to explain it to them; they understood but we all have to portray certain image which you know very well, so father demanded a trial for this incident. I know it’s a trial but knowing my father it will either end up in getting rid of Buckbeak or Hagrid._

_It’s alright, I kind of knew that even before you said it. Let’s hope everything works out for the best. I don’t want Hagrid to get sacked, but it was his responsibility, so I don’t know what to think. I am confused as hell._

_You should rest Harry, getting all worked up will not do anything. We will talk tomorrow morning okay._

_Alright, you should sleep as well, you need more rest than me. Good night Draco._

Then Harry went to sleep contemplating what to do about the trail and Hagrid.

~

When Neville slipped under the covers to sleep, he was still processing all the things that had happened today. First meeting with Prof Snape, then Draco getting mauled by Hippogriff and Harry’s sudden outburst.

He was more worried about Harry than Draco because he knew his little brother, he would blame himself for this incident and get all grumpy and guilty about it. But the twin sisters had helped him get over his foul mood, he was grateful to both Ivy and Iris; they were like a shining beacon of light for Harry, whenever Harry was upset; they would materialise in front of him out of nowhere and his mood would brighten up instantly.

He was still wary of his talk with Prof Snape; he needed to talk to someone about it; he couldn’t talk to Harry right now; he was already upset with Ron’s tantrums and Draco’s injury; he couldn’t put more weight on his shoulders right now. He though about Blaise, dark skinned boy had helped him every step of the way since they met; he couldn’t think of one reason to not discuss this with Blaise. He used to talk himself out of doing certain things, seems he had gotten over his fear of rejection. He smiled softly thinking about Harry, Blaise, and Draco’s acceptance of him, he decided to talk to him and pulled out his diary gifted by Draco.

_Hello Blaise, Are you awake?_

_Yes, I am. How can I help you caro mio?_

_I just needed to talk, today was a hard day for me._

_Of course, Nev, I am here for you. You can talk about anything with me._

_I am confused about what to do about my parents, on one hand I want my parents to get healthy and happy again like they were before it all happened, but on the other hand I am worried cause this is an experimental procedure; what if it makes things worse for them. what if I lose them completely? I am so scared._

_Caro mio, take few deep breaths first and listen to me, first it is all up to you, you can decide whatever you want. If you decide that you want to go ahead with the procedure and if it works than you might have a chance to have your parents back, and if it doesn’t work than it is what it is; Nev, your parents may be alive but you don’t know them nor they know you. Two people you know as parents might as well be strangers to you. I am not saying this to hurt you, amore, I only want you to consider this objectively. If there is a slight possibility that you can know and live with your real parents not just the shell of a person than you should take it._

_Thank you, Blaise, thank you so much; I wanted to accept Prof Snape’s offer right there and then, but I was scared; I just couldn’t make up my mind. But after hearing this I know I want my parents to get better; I will talk to Prof Snape tomorrow and give him my answer._

_Anytime caro mio; you only have to ask; I will always help you and if for some reason I can’t than I will always be there for you no matter what._

_How is Draco doing? Did you meet him after dinner?_

_Yes, I did; he is fine, but Madam Pomphrey insisted on arm cast just be safe so that he does not strain tender muscle. His parents were called to inform about the accident and Lucius demanded trail; I am sure either Hagrid will get sacked or Buckbeak would have to be put down. I feel sorry for the poor sod, Because of Ron’s stupidity; Hagrid might lose his job._

_Yeah, I know. I feel sorry for him; but he shouldn’t have started his class with such dangerous creatures. I will talk to him about it tomorrow and might help him sort out class schedule and stuff. He means well but always ends up in trouble._

_I know, its okay. If you think he needs help than you should help him. By the way, how is Harry? Did he calm down at all?_

_Yes, he did, after Ivy and Iris sat him down and chastised him for being grumpy and making everyone else unhappy with his sour moods._

_Hopefully, they wouldn’t have to do it again, Draco has to stay in the infirmary for few days, so Harry is bound to have mood swings without him._

_You are probably right, anyways I think we should call it a night Blaise, will talk tomorrow. Good night_

_Buona notte e sogni d'oro Nev._

~

Next day, they had their first DADA lesson, all of them were excited to meet a professor who could actually teach. Remus Lupin was by far the most experienced and knowledgeable teacher they ever had in DADA. Their first lesson involved Boggarts which was a highly amusing lesson to say the least.

One by one everyone got to face the boggarts, Parvati was afraid of giant snake, Ron was terrified of Acromentula, Dean was terrified of vampires, whereas Hermione was terrified of failing her exams. Draco was given free pass since he was injured.

When it was time for Blaise to face the boggart, his boggart turned in to himself who was saying all kinds of horrible things about himself; Neville’s boggart turned in to his parents’ dead bodies, Harry’s boggart turned in to Dementor; Prof Lupin didn’t let either of them face the boggart; he got rid of it and dismissed the class afterwards.

Harry was worried about his friend and his brother but he needed to talk to Lupin; so, he tried to get his attention after class to talk things since he had an excuse of asking why he didn’t let them banish it like the others did. But to Harry’s disappointment he ignored him and got busy in his work. Harry left for next class in sullen mood.

Next few days passed by in a blur, attending class, writing essays, and giving lessons about wizarding culture. Harry focused on his study in the meantime; he was determined to achieve best score from this year onwards.

Ron had apologised to both Harry and Draco; he had asked for a chance to start their friendship from a scratch without any prior assumptions. Harry was quite happy with what Ron had suggested; it seemed that he was being more mature and responsible. Later Twins had informed him that they had notified their grandmother about Ron’s blunder; his grandmother who was Cedrella Black teared him in to a new one. He also found out that Lord Weasley had chose Bill to be their heir instead of Ron’s father. Their grandfather had accepted them only for the sake of children; only seven juniors Weasley were welcomed at Weasley hall and Mr and Mrs Weasley were staying at the Burrow. It turns out the Black can hold a grudge to last a millennium; their grandmother had not forgiven his son and daughter in law for their behaviour.

Harry kind of understood where they were coming from; even if you don’t agree with your family; you do not turn your back towards them; if they had just tried to talk things over; All the children would have been raised with their grandparents and would have known them their entire life instead what had happened.

~

Dumbledore was not having a good week at all; he had carefully planned and schemed everything so that at the end of it all he would have been raised as their saviour once again.

After that he wouldn’t need any manipulations or careful manoeuvrings; they would consider his word as a force of nature and would do as he would suggest. But; nothing was going according to his plans since the Potter brat ran away from his relatives.

He couldn’t use potions on them like before since majority of the students were wearing their Heirship rings; which would alert them on being compromised. Even the Potter brat had somehow gotten his heirship ring; but thankfully he didn’t know anything about the other lordship that he might have inherited. All of the students were still under the previous potions which might be helpful to him in near future; he would have to make move soon before its effects wear off; without continuing them it would wear off naturally as every other potion. But he had time still before that happens; nevertheless, fudge was still on his side as gullible as ever; who is more important at the moment than some thirteen years old children.

He had to find out where Sirius Black was before he gets to Harry; otherwise he would ruin everything by telling him the truth.

He slowly popped Lemon drops in his mouth while scheming how to stop Black from reaching to Potter brat.

~

All the teachers had undergone purging and now they were even more attentive towards all the students and what was happening around them. They were more cheerful while teaching and were helpful when students asked questions; Harry could see the difference in their attitude as well as behaviour clear as day. He was happy with the progress they had made but he was seething inside thinking that Dumbledore was controlling everyone like a puppeteer. He wowed that he wouldn’t let that happen again not if he can help it.

He was approached by Prof Lupin after DADA lesson when he was leaving, “Stay behind Mr Potter. I like to have a word with you.”

Harry looked at Neville ad they had silent conversation through eyes and Neville gave him a small nod and left with Hermione and Ron. He asks hesitantly, he didn’t want to raise his hopes, “How can I help you Professor?”

Remus smiles fondly, “You have your mother’s nature Harry. Sorry, I wanted to talk to you about your parents.”

Harry took out his wand and casted privacy charms and warded the door of the classroom. Remus raided his eyebrows in questions, “Its better to be safe than sorry” Harry replied.

Remus nodded, “Of course, it would mean that you know about potions and compulsion charms?” Harry smiles bitterly, “Know about them, I was the first person to discover the old coot’s manipulations.”

Remus looked shocked hearing that, he asked, “How did that happen?”

Harry pointed the chair and said, “Please sit down, its rather long story.” Once Remus took his place; Harry began to describe his tale in depth details. He told him about potions and compulsion, meeting at Gringotts, purging, reading of his parents wills, their letters, Sirius’s innocence and Severus Snape’s taking his guardianship, founding manor, living with his mate’s family and friends, everything that happened in last one month. 

When he was done, he raised his eyes and looked at Remus and he was terrified with what he saw, His eyes were gleaming golden, and he was looking all feral and dangerous. He hesitantly took a step towards him and asks, “Prof Lupin?” He heard a low growl coming from Prof Lupin; so, he took two steps back and looked straight into Prof’s eyes.

Remus could not control Moony, he was fighting to come out, his cub was hurt and all alone because of the old headmaster. He left his mate to rot on Azkaban for twelve year when he was innocent. He could feel that he was losing control over Moony; but when he looked at his cub’s face; he saw fear in those emerald green eyes, and he was ashamed to think that his cub was afraid of him. He reeled in Moony and got his anger under control and apologised, “I am so sorry Harry, I couldn’t control Moony after listening to what you just said. I am sorry, I scared you.”

Harry asks, “Who’s Moony? Prof Lupin?”

Remus gulps and replies, “Well, it’s difficult to explain but, I am a werewolf Harry, Moony is the wolf side of my personality.”

Harry’s eyes widen upon realisation, “So, that’s why you are afraid of full moon.”

Remus chuckles, “Figured it, didn’t you? You are just as smart as Lily. Well, the reason I asked you to stay behind was to talk to you about your parents, no one except Sirius knew them better than me. I wanted you to hear all good and bad things about them.”

Harry smiles, “Of course, but we can do that on Saturday or on Sunday over tea and scones. For now, I need to ask you a few questions so that I can know if we are on the same page or not.”

Remus nods, “Of course, anything cub.”

Harry asks, “When you visited Gringotts, did you get to hear my parent’s wills?” Remus shakes his head, “No, they only did the purging and tests.”

Harry nods, “They must have decided to wait for my permission than, very well; I will send a letter to Farlig, he will asks you to meet again in next few days for private reading of the will and give you all that was left for you.”

Remus agrees readily; Harry asks, “Do you have any idea where Sirius could be hiding? If we can find him before others, Lucius and Narcissa are trying to get trial for him; that way we can clear his name.”

Remus looked heartbroken upon hearing that, “I have a few ways, I will send a coded message in form of advertisement in daily prophet. Will see if it can get his attention.”

Harry relaxes upon hearing that, “I am glad, we are trying to find him for past month, but we haven’t got any clue as of right now. Prof Lupin, next time visit Gringotts can you please take over my guardianship from Prof Snape. I have nothing against him, but he was supposed to be my temporary guardian until we found either of you. I don’t want to put his life in danger.”

Remus sighs, “I will try to gain your guardianship Harry, but I want to warn you that it wont be easy, there is no way wizarding world would grant boy who lived’s custody to a werewolf. The laws are really strict and unforgiving, it has been next to impossible for me to find a job because of this.”

Harry nods in understanding and starts debating how to proceed from here and out when they hear the knock on their door, Harry tentatively put down wards and charms and open the door, when Prof Snape walks in with bunch of notes in his hands, “Oh, you both are here; it is good than. First of all, Harry your mother was truly genius.”

Harry raises an eyebrow and asks, “Care to elaborate Professor?”

Snape explains, “I will in a minute, I need to know if both of you cleared all the misunderstanding between yourselves or not?”

Harry nods so does Remus and answers him, “Yes, we did. I even agreed to take over guardianship even though we both know it is next to impossible for a werewolf to be granted such a thing.”

Snape smirks, “It might not be that difficult, Lupin.”

Remus and Harry share a look, they somehow get the feeling that Prof Snape is not telling them the whole truth why he was hear.

So, Harry demands, “Why were you here Prof Snape, I would guess it has something to do with my mother’s journal since you started our conversation with complimenting her intelligence.”

Snape takes seat beside Remus and starts explaining, “Harry, you know we discussed experimental procedure for Neville’s parents, well few days ago he gave me his permission to go ahead with it. So, I was looking into the process that Lily described in detail. Well, it wasn’t the only potion and treatment invented by Lily. She found several others that will change the entire wizarding world for sure.

You see, she invented the treatment that would turn a werewolf into Animagus. When she explained it; it was so simple, I wish I had thought about it before. For any werewolf transformation are violent and difficult because they do not accept their wolf side and only transform into their inner creature once a month when they are forced, if we can somehow help them create perfect balance and harmony with each other; than we can turn them into Animagus who would much like every other wizard could change into their wolf form any time they wish. She altered both wolf bane potion and Animagus potion in such a way that would help a werewolf turn into Animagus rather than a beast.”

When Snape was finished explaining both Remus and Harry’s jaws dropped to floor, this was ingenious and ground-breaking discovery. Harry was never more proud than in that moment to be Lily Evans’ son. His mother had created solution for all those people who were considered dark and shunned for something they had no control over. He was so happy that he got to play even a small part in this discovery.

Snape continued after a second, “Well, this is all explained in theory only, we have no idea how it’s practical application would result in. Since these potions are not tested yet.”

Remus gave Snape a warm smile and says, “You do not need to worry about finding a test subject, I will gladly be a lab rat if this can work; besides this is Lily’s research we are talking about; it is bound to be perfect. She was a prodigy in both Charms and Potions.”

Snape gave both of them a stiff nod and further elaborated, “Thank you for your assistance, but it will take at least few months to understand and prepare for all the things that we might need for this. So, I would say that we won’t be getting on actual trial until after Christmas. If the timeline changes, I will inform you immediately. Until than I will brew you wolfs bane potion as usual. Now, that I have delivered the news I was here for; I will take your leave. And Harry I think its time you returned to your tower; your friends must be waiting for you.”

With that Snape turned around, swishing his long black robes behind him, and left just like that.

~

Next month Harry got busy in his studies, since he had taken all the subjects; it was even more tiring for him. He was getting tutored by Draco for Potions, Astronomy, Divination and Charms, Blaise was helping him in Arithmancy and History of Magic while Neville was tutoring him in Herbology and Care of Magical creatures. Same way he was helping all three of them in Transfiguration, Defence against dark arts and Ancient Runes. Remus had commented that he had mastery over these subjects just like his mom had over potions and charms.

He was getting help from Hermione for his muggle studies and magical theory; since the school had started, they both had bonded over shared subjects notes and assignments and such. Hermione was very happy that she finally found a study partner who would not slack off and was able to keep up with her. But after a while She realised that Harry didn’t need help on other subjects at all, his grades were constantly between either O or EE. He even got more marks in Transfiguration, DADA and Ancient Runes than Hermione, since that day Hermione was at wit’s end because she couldn’t figure out how that was possible.

Harry ignored her attempts to find out how he got more marks than her, he was busy tutoring rest of the dorms for their classes, specially Ivy and Iris. He would daily check how much homework they were given at the ned of the day. He would help them if they couldn’t figure out the difficult questions.

He was finally happy and content with the peaceful life in Hogwarts; but he had spoken too soon; Hermione’s pet cat Crookshanks was hell bent on eating Ron’s rat Scabbers, which as usual turned into huge fight in the common room, which Harry had to break it up after getting a massive migraine. He was so fed up with their childish fights that he fled the common room soon after that taking Iris and Ivy with her.

They didn’t turn up for the dinner, Harry took them to Astronomy tower and asked Hinky to bring their dinner there, he transfigured a few things into blanket, pillows and fairy lights and sat them down. He decided to treat them with some special food just to make up for the sour mood. Hinky delivered their dinner in a huge basket.

Harry was missing Indian food, so he had asked for some Indian dishes. Hinky had prepared palak paneer with rice, some chole with naan, dal makhani, crunchy veg cutlets and gulab jambu as deserts. Ivy and Iris were drooling after seeing all the food.

They enjoyed each and every bite of the morsel; once they were full and sated; Harry decided it was time to escort them back to their common room before the curfew.

He took Ivy to dungeons and made sure she went inside before leaving with Iris for their shared common room.

~

Getting his arm in to a cast; helped Draco in so many ways; he was excused from his doing his homework and practical. Since he was not buried in vast amount of homework; he had made significant progress in his elemental abilities.

Since the second day, when he had found introductory book about air element and abilities, he had been practising to control the air element. He was waking up early six in the morning and doing meditation and yoga, to find the balance between his conscious and subconscious mind. He was making substantial improvement.

Draco was enamoured with Ivy’s cunning and calculating nature; she was a Slytherin through and through. He didn’t get to communicate with Iris like Harry, but he was watching them both closely; and the more he look; he got more and more confused. Both of them had personality like Harry but he was confused whether it was because they were getting close to Harry or was there some other reason as well.

He was determined to figure out the reason behind this, but he couldn’t manage his time schedule to actually investigate into this matter. He was busy tutoring Harry in four different subjects: as well as his house mates in charms, potions and astronomy. He always got the top spot in these subjects now; he was getting top spot in Divination as well. Pansy and Theo had started badgering both him and Blaise for more information about their summer but they both had remained tight lipped; they might trust them both but that doesn’t mean they would share such private information with them.

He was also tutoring Ivy to be more cunning and resourceful like a Slytherin that she was; he was attending all the classes that Pansy was giving her; somehow having Harry into her corner made him protective towards her as well. He could see clear as day that Harry was never going to leave them on their own ever again hypothetically of course. Harry had declared then as her sisters in their house, which meant that they were family to them.

On the lighter note, Ivy was thinking about starting a prank war against rest of the Hogwarts students since they had to make sure that old coot didn’t suspect them. they were planning randomly choosing a student each day for a month. She even prepared list of the pranks she wanted to test. Seeing the list; Draco blanched and relieved not to be on the other side of this war.

Both Ivy and Iris were missing along with Harry, so Draco assumed that they were together having quality time together. He was sitting on the huge lather sofa in front of fireplace in common room, waiting for Ivy to show; he wasn’t worried per se but since it was about to be curfew time, he was slightly panicking internally.

Soon, the door to their common room opened and Ivy entered, “Hey, Draco. What are you doing?”

Draco gave her a soft smile and said, “Just waiting to show up, you weren’t at the dinner, so I was just a little bit worried.”

Ivy nods and answers, “We were spending time with Harry on the astronomy tower. Anyways, I am tired, I think I will tuck in early. Thanks for watching out though. Good night Draco.”

Then she left towards girl’s dormitory, to get ready for bed. Draco shakes his head fondly and leave as well.

~

Harry was sleeping soundly when he heard a commotion outside in the common room. He woke up instantly and put on his glasses, took his wand, and went to check it out what the ruckus was about.

When he came into the common room, everyone was standing there in their night clothes, looking frightened and unsure of what was happening. He instantly took control over the situation, “Alright, calm down,” he waited everyone to settle down and then continued, “Can someone please tell me what is happening, and why everyone are out here in the common room.”

Angelina steps forward and replied, “I was coming back from my prefects rounds, when I heard some commotion nearby, so I hastened my pace, when I reached the portrait of fat lady, it was empty and had huge three slashes on it. No one knows what happened, I entered the common room in hurry, it opened without the password but now it has locked us inside. It is not opening.”

He nodded and looked around to find Neville, who was placating a few first years. He went to him, “Nev, should I open it with the ring, or should we send a message?”

Neville replied, “I don’t think it’s wise to tell them about the ring and all that it entails. We should send a house elf with message.” Harry nodded and called Hinky, “Hinky”

She appeared in front of him and he ordered her, “Can you please go find Prof McGonagall, and inform her that we need her help in Gryffindor tower.”

Hinky left and everyone else slowly took their place around the common room waiting for their head of the house to come.

Almost an hour later the door to their common room opened and Prof McGonagall entered, “Alright, everyone will follow me to the great hall, you all will be sleeping in the great hall with the rest of the student body. No need to ask any questions, once we reach the hall; you all will be addressed with necessary information.”

Slowly everyone followed her to the great hall. Harry and Iris were walking with Neville when they entered, suddenly Ivy ran towards them and hugged them both.

Everyone stopped and were looking at them, Ivy started blabbering, “Are you alright? No one is saying anything, but a few prefects said that Gryffindor tower was attacked. Is it true?” At that point of time Dumbledore informed them, “Listen up, Students; first I would like to apologies for disturbing your restful sleep but earlier in the evening the portrait of fat lady was viciously attacked by the infamous Sirius Black, since we are not sure if he is still in the castle; entire student body will be sleeping in the great hall, where teachers will take turn to watch over them with head boy and head girl. That’s all. Good night everyone.”

Instantly murmuring filled the entire hall, everyone started picking a sleeping bag to sleep in and getting comfortable in it. Ivy leads them towards Draco and Blaise; Harry and Neville shares concerned look but they ignored the confused looks around them for now, Ivy and Iris sleeps side by side; Draco takes place beside Ivy and Harry takes place beside Iris, Neville settles next to Harry and same way Blaise takes other side of Draco.

They all try to get a shut eye before the next day approaches them. But the quite murmuring in the background never stops.

~

Next morning, Harry woke early with Iris and Ivy, while most people were still asleep; they decided to get ready for the day and left the great hall, Harry says, “You should come with us to Gryffindor tower Ivy, since dungeons would be empty right now, you can use the girl’s dormitory with Iris to shower and get ready.”

Ivy agrees and they soon reach the Gryffindor tower, when they entered the common room Shresha was lounging on the huge sofa in front of fireplace; Harry shouts, “ _Shresha, what are you doing out in the open; we have discussed this; you are to stay in your tank while we are at Hogwarts. You cannot just roam around in castle full of children; they would get frightened.”_

Shresha raises her head while giving him a bored expression, _“Relax Speaker, there was no one here to bite; I was resting in front of fire. Must you confine me in that horrid box; I get bored all day; you don’t talk with me and there is no one else with whom I can converse. At least in that shop I had hatchlings whom I could torture.”_

Harry sighs and rolled his eyes, When Iris says, _“You can talk with me, I would love to spend time with you.”_ Ivy joins her, _“So can I, don’t worry; we will keep you company. We will even take you out for walks and play with you.”_

Harry stares at them both, when Shresha says, _“Two hatchlings who can speak, marvellous. From now on, you will both tend to me and spend time with me; since speaker is always busy with whatever he does. Mind you I will not tolerate skiving off; you will treat me like a goddess that I am. And do as I say.”_

Harry shakes his head and almost shouts, “Absolutely not, you will not do anything like that Ivy, Iris, both of you will stay away from Shresha and you will not tell anyone that you are parselmouth. She is my familiar therefore she is my responsibility. Now, go to girl’s dormitory and get ready, not another word out of either of you, I won’t hear any arguments at all. Come on get going.”

With that he lifts Shresha in his arms and went to boy’s dormitories to put her in her tank, Ivy and Iris glared at the space where Harry had been standing, both declared together, “He did not just do that, did he?”

Afterwards they also left to get ready; but once they were freshly showered and ready to go for breakfast; they didn’t wait for Harry to take them; both of the girls were too miffed to even think about talking to him.

Iris huffs, “I wont talk to him unless he apologies to us; I only wanted to be helpful you know. Why would he be mean like that.”

Ivy regards, “Only he knows why he behaved like that Ri, he has been like a big brother to us from the starting of the year.”

“Yeah, but because of that; his behaviour today hurt me more. He has been caring and loving towards us and now this kind of behaviour.”

Ivy grins, “Why not make him regret, we can play pranks on him until he apologies to us. How about that?”

Iris smiles, “Yeah, okay; but we need to set up some rules before we start; you know in the past we have injured so many classmates from primary school; we cannot hurt Harry like that.”

Ivy nods, “Those were physical pranks Ri; we didn’t know magic back then, but now that we do, we can use hexes and jinxes to prank him.”

Iris agrees, “Good, now whom to target, we cannot target only Harry otherwise he would find out that we are pranking him.”

“Me and Draco were thinking about starting a prank war against rest of the school to fuel Dumbledore’s manic ideas, how about this; I will target Gryffindor and Hufflepuff while you will target Slytherin and Ravenclaws. That way, we both have equal ground to cover.”

“First rule though, all hexes and jinxes must be harmless and reversable; either on their on or by the help of Madam Pomphrey.”

Ivy continues, “We are only first year student though; we will need help of older student for more complex jinx and hex. We both get two helpers each.”

Iris agrees. “Alright, but we have to set up a time limit, I think a month should be enough; yeah, we both get three targets each in a week and we both target Harry at weekends. Also, most creative prank will win the challenge and loser would have to buy winner whatever they ask for.”

Ivy nods, “Fine by me. Let’s shake on it.” They both shake hands and goes to great hall for breakfast. Instead of taking her usual place between Draco and Blaise, Ivy sits between Daphne and Astoria. While Iris sits between Fred and George.

Iris starts eating her breakfast silently when both Fred and George cast a discreet privacy charms around them and Fred asks, “Alright trouble, what are you brewing with your sister?”

Iris shrugs nonchalantly, “Who says I am planning something?”

George scoffs, “Oh please, we can smell your deviousness from here, So, what is it?”

Iris gives them long look and says, “I am in need of two helpers, are you interested?”

Fred and George shares meaningful look and asks, “Why?”

Iris bites her bottom lips for a few seconds and then says, “Me and my sister are starting prank war; interested?”

Both Fred and George give her evil grins and says, “Well, I will be damned.”

“You can count us in” “

“as long as we get to have”

“some credit for our help.”

“So, who are we targeting, miss”

Iris informs, “Slytherins and Ravenclaws. Ivy has Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs.”

Fred and George’s face lit up like a thousand suns.

“So, when do we start?”

“from this week; she has two helpers as well; we each target three people every week for a month; and we both have one common target whom we target at weekend.”

Twins asks, “Who?”

“My brother of course.”

“You mean Harry? “

“What happened now?”

Ivy glares at them and says, “He knows what he did. Anyways, this is happening on way or the other; wanna join or not?”

Twins agrees wholeheartedly and they soon start planning their first prank. Iris decided that she wants to target only upper years; no one will target first years, Fred and George complies with her request and starts explaining their first prank which will happen tonight of course.

On the other side of the Great hall Ivy has the same conversation with Daphne and Astoria. Daphne asks, “So, Miss Evanston; how come you are siting here with me and my sister and ditched your pseudo brother.”

Ivy counters, “You both seems to know all the gossip that goes around the castle. If I ask for your assistance; would you help me?”

Daphne and Astoria share a look and questions, “What kind of help; you will have to be more specific, Dove.”

Ivy explains, “Me and my sister are starting a prank war. If you agree than we get to target Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs.”

“Well, that was unexpected, who would have thought you had it in you, little duck.”

Astoria says, “If we both agree than what’s in it for us?”

Ivy gives them an evil smile, “I haven’t gotten to the best part yet, we both target three people every week for a month; and at the end of the week, we both have one common target. My loving pseudo brother. So, now what do you think, wanna help prank golden boy of Hogwarts.”

Both sisters blink rapidly and try to wrap their mind around the brand-new information, than Astoria says, “We are in; we still haven’t forgotten the first year; how he took our well earned house cup from right under our noses.”

Ivy grins, “Great” she takes out her planner that she had prepared for prank war and they soon start plotting.

~

Harry comes to great hall looking for Ivy and Iris; he founds them talking with two sets of twins, Iris is busy with Weasley brothers and Ivy is chatting with Greengrass sisters.

Something about it seems off to him; he shudders just by imagining what Iris and Weasley twins might be working on. He decides to intertwine before any catastrophe happens, “Hey, Iris. What do you have for first class today?”

Instead of answering, she gets up and turns towards twins, “I will see you after class in the evening.” Then she left; so, did Ivy from other side of the hall. Harry was still processing that Iris gave him a cold shoulder when Hermione approaches him, “Harry, where have you been, come on let’s get you some breakfast; it will be over soon and we’ll be late for our class.”

Then she drags him towards their usual seats. He absentmindedly eats his eggs and porridge with some fruits. Soon, Harry, Neville, Hermione and Ron left for their first class which was Transfiguration.

Rest of the day went on without any difficulties, but they hade tons of homework, three foot essay on confusing concoction in potions, two rolls of parchment for teapot to turquoise spell and its effects in transfiguration; three foot essay on cheering charms and two rolls of parchment in Ancient Runes for explaining at least fifteen to twenty different runes and symbols.

By the end of the day everyone was exhausted with their workload and homework. Harry went to Gryffindor tower with Neville, Ron and Hermione and quickly freshen up. They all set up their work in the common room and started working on it; even Ron was making an effort for his homework this year. Seemed like the potions were making him lazy and idle.

Soon, Seamus, Dean, Lavender and Parvati joined them and all of them started working diligently on their schoolwork. When it’s time for dinner; they all got up and head towards Great hall; chatting along the way.

Dinner was about to start when Great hall started filling with students from all houses; Iris enters the hall with Weasley Twins again, they were huddled close and speaking in hushed tones. Dinner was served in next few minutes; everyone started eating and chatting with each other; when suddenly on the Slytherin table; noise irrupted; when Harry looked at the table; he could see that Goyle had pig nose and slowly his facial features were turning into that of a pig; the more he ate; more changes could be seen. Pansy took pity on the boy and asked him to follow her to infirmary _._ When Goyle stood up from his place suddenly huge red sparks exploded and revealed huge pig faced charm on the air above him under it was written; _until next time- WW_ which again caused another explosion and entire Slytherin table was covered in red coloured glitters. Entire great hall cheered for whoever was responsible for the prank. All Slytherins were looking gloomy while rest of the student body was happy and cheerful with the outcome.

He could see Weasley twins snickering with Ivy in his peripheral vision with smug expression on their faces. Harry felt that somehow, they were behind this; but since he didn’t have any proof and because both the girls were kind of cross with him; he decided to ignore it for now since it looked quite harmless. What he didn’t know was that he would regret not interfering soon enough.

Thus, started the legendary prank war that would be remembered by everyone even after years from now on.

~

Soon, everyone finds out that no one was safe from these pranks; since next day Dean’s hair was changed into rainbow colour; the day after that Padma Patil’s voice was turned into that of a banshee, no matter how hard she tried her voice only came out as shrieks and Professors had to gave her a free pass from the class. After that Cedric’s hair turned all white and he lost his teeth; and his skin was all wrinkly and old; he looked like an eighty-year-old man. 

No one was spared in this prank war by the end of the week; everyone was quite wary of who would be next target.

Much to everyone’s surprise Harry was the unlucky one; for his prank; each and every clothing he decided to wear would turned into Slytherin green colour, he changed at least twenty times wishing the charm responsible for it would wear off but to his horror; it didn’t and he had to wear green coloured clothes entire day; but since it was Sunday; he didn’t leave the common room and asked Hinky to serve him dinner in his dorms.

After dinner when he was studying with Hermione for their shared class; suddenly common room entrance pushed open with a bang and Percy entered. He was sweating profusely and looking dishevelled; Everyone stopped working in an instance; Fred and George approached their brother and gently placed on the couch and rubbing his back in soothing motion.

Harry called Hinky and asked her to bring a cup of tea with some calming draught in it. Hinky gave the tea to Percy and he slowly took few sips and effect was instant. His breathing was back to normal and his heartbeat slowed down.

Percy took a deep breath and said, “You are right Harry; about Dumbledore and Everything. You have to help me. I can’t do it; I just can’t” he broke off; couldn’t say anymore.

Harry slowly took his hand and started rubbing his thumb on it and asked, “What happened, you will have to explain Percy. We need to know what happened if we are to help you.”

Percy looked at him with such desperation; it broke Harry’s heart, Percy said, “Dumbledore tired to cast imperious on me.”

There was a deadly silence in the common room, Harry motioned him to continue, he said, “I was coming back from my night patrols, when I felt a prickle of magic behind me; suddenly I felt another presence in my mind telling me to get a job in the ministry and breaking up with Oliver. It also said to court Penelope Clearwater who’s head girl. Since; we have been working on occlumency for a month; I kind of got quite better at it; I put up a shield around my mind which kind of helped me know that someone tried to cast Imperious on me. I turned around and saw Dumbledore and ran from there afterwards. I don’t know what to do.”

Harry nods along and says, “For now, just rest and don’t think about it; we’ll find the solution soon. Give me some time to think and in the meantime spend time with Oliver and don’t get hyper. Don’t leave common room until we are back okay.”

Then he nods at Neville who got up from his seat and left the common room with him, as soon as Harry was out of the common room, he sent a message to Draco and Blaise via bracelet.

_Heir’ Library Now_

Both of them soon reached the third floor and door to the library appeared; they entered it and closed the door behind it. Neville sat on the couch while Harry started pacing in the seating area. He was all worked up with nervous energy. To think that the old coot would stoop this low. Potions and charms are one thing but casting unforgivables on children is downright inhuman.

They only had wait for ten minutes when Draco and Blaise entered the library. Draco saw murderous look on Harry’s face and cursed under his breath, that old coot had done something yet again.

He slowly approaches Harry, “Hey, what happened?”

Harry almost shouts, “what happened?? You ask, old meddling headmaster is what happened. Draco, we knew how far he had gone to control everything but this; he crossed the line Draco, I can’t believe a person responsible for well being of children would do something like this.”

Blaise knows Harry won’t be able to keep his cool so he asks Neville, “Caro Mio, would please explain why Harry is in such foul mood?”

Neville scowls, “He is not the only one, Blaise the old coot tried to cast imperious curse on Percy Weasley. He came to Gryffindor tower few minutes ago; looking dishevelled and frightened out of his mind. But since we have been teaching everyone occlumency he was able to fight off the commands.”

Harry continues, “You know what he ordered him to do, to break up with Oliver and court the head girl and that’s not enough then he ordered him to get a job in Ministry. He is trying to control children’s life as he has any right to do so. That manipulative arse.”

Draco and Blaise shared horrified look and took place beside their significant other. Draco starts patting Harry’s forearm and suggests, “Well, we have solution for their relationship but the job aspect would be up to him only; you know in pureblood culture Lords and Ladies attains a marriage contracts for their children to ensure they have respectable witch or wizard in their family, you can suggest them to talk with their grandparents, Lord Weasley would talk to Lord Wood and if they agree then the old coot cannot go against a legal marriage contract without causing some serious uproar in Pureblood community.”

Harry and Neville raptly listen and process what Draco just suggested; it seems a valid path for them right now; they talk some more about the contracts and how they work; Draco asks Harry what he had done to piss off the twins of terror that they weren’t even talking to him. Harry briefly explains what happened in common room a few days ago and Blaise glares at him, “why would you behave like that Harry, you know that both the twins are only attached to you in the entire castle and for you to dismiss them with such harsh words; obviously they are miffed at you. Even now, you are as oblivious as ever.”

Harry sighs and agrees that he might have overreacted but he couldn’t help it; just last year entire student body was up against him for being parselmouth; he didn’t want that kind of scrutiny on the twins. He had his reasons but he didn’t explain them to twins which caused this stiff environment between them.

They talked some more, going back and forth on some ideas and decided to call it a night and went back to their common rooms, when they entered the Gryffindor common room; everyone was still there; some working on their school work at last minute since it was Sunday night; some talking in hushed voices and Percy was laying on the sofa with his head in Oliver’s lap while he was carding his fingers though Percy’s red hair.

Harry and Neville greet them and slowly explains them what they could do for their relationship; since they were soon to be graduated from Hogwarts it was perfect timing to acquire the contract if they agreed on it.

Percy bolted right up and started writing letter to his grandparents telling them all about the incident as well as talking to Oliver’s family. Neville asks Rinky to deliver the letter instantly to Lord Weasley without delay since they wanted to work fast.

After that Harry asks, “Let’s talk about you job then; the old coot want you to join ministry; now the question is whether you want to or was there any other profession that was on your mind?”

Oliver replies, “Well; even before old coot’s meddling; Percy wanted to work in the ministry like his father but in more significant department. I don’t if he will still wanted the same or not;” he looked down at him and said, “I don’t care Percy; even if you decide that you don’t want to work I will work for both of us; I want you happy and healthy; I don’t want you doing something where you have look behind your shoulders frequently.”

Percy teared up, “Oh Oli, thank you for being with me like this; the job; I guess it doesn’t matter to me in the least; not like you do; I was more worried about our relation Oli; I don’t want to lose you ever; but now that we have solved that problem for now; I think I will behave like the old coot expects me to and once we are out of Hogwarts; we will be free from it all. I will even talk to Penny about it; she is going to talk my ear off after finding out what happened today.”

After that the atmosphere in the room visibly relaxed and became more vibrant. They spent some time brainstorming ideas on how to protect the small kids from the old coot.

~

Over the course of next few weeks; a lot of things happened; the prank war was going on as strong as ever; and the pranks seems to get more creative and craftier.

Lord Weasley had arranged the meeting with Lord wood over night and they had procured a marriage contract for their grandson and son respectively; which made Percy and Oliver so giddy and happy that their excitement was affecting everyone around them.

Soon, the day for their first Quidditch match was here. Harry was thrumming with excitement; not even constant rain and gloomy weather could dampen his mood. Their first match was against Hufflepuffs; he decided to ditch his fake glasses for the match since he was going to wear goggles because of rain.

He quickly got ready in his quidditch gear and sat down for breakfast with Weasley twins by his side. Hermione had casted water repelling charm on goggles so he could see clearly on the field.

The wind was so strong that they staggered sideways as they walked out onto the field. If the crowd was cheering, they couldn’t hear it over the fresh rolls of thunder. The Hufflepuffs were approaching from the opposite side of the field, wearing canary-yellow robes. The Captains walked up to each other and shook hands; Diggory smiled at Wood but Wood now looked as though he had lockjaw and merely nodded. Harry saw Madam Hooch’s mouth form the words, “Mount your brooms.”

He pulled his right foot out of the mud with a squelch and swung it over his Nimbus Two Thousand. Madam Hooch put her whistle to her lips and gave it a blast that sounded shrill and distant they were off. Harry rose fast, but his Nimbus was swerving slightly with the wind. He held it as steady as he could and turned, squinting into the rain.

Within five minutes Harry was soaked to his skin and frozen, hardly able to see his teammates, let alone the tiny Snitch. He flew backward and forward across the field past blurred red and yellow shapes, with no idea of what was happening in the rest of the game.

He couldn’t hear the commentary over the wind. The crowd was hidden beneath a sea of cloaks and battered umbrellas. There was another clap of thunder, followed immediately by forked lightning. This was getting more and more dangerous.

Harry needed to get the Snitch quickly He turned, intending to head back toward the middle of the field, but at that moment, another flash of lightning illuminated the stands, and Harry saw something that distracted him completely the silhouette of an enormous shaggy black dog, clearly imprinted against the sky, motionless in the topmost, empty row of seats.

Harry’s numb hands slipped on the broom handle and his Nimbus dropped a few feet. Shaking his sodden bangs out of his eyes, he squinted back into the stands. The dog had vanished.

“Harry!” came Wood’s anguished yell from the Gryffindor goal posts. “Harry, behind you!”

Harry looked wildly around. Cedric Diggory was pelting up the field, and a tiny speck of gold was shimmering in the rain-filled air between them with a jolt of panic, Harry threw himself flat to the broomhandle and zoomed toward the Snitch.

“Come on!” he growled at his Nimbus as the rain whipped his face. “ _Faster_!”

But something odd was happening. An eerie silence was falling across the stadium. The wind, though as strong as ever, was forgetting to roar. It was as though someone had turned off the sound, as though Harry had gone suddenly deaf, what was going on?

And then a horribly familiar wave of cold swept over him, inside him, just as he became aware of something moving on the field below…. Before he’d had time to think, Harry had taken his eyes off the Snitch and looked down.

At least a hundred dementors, their hidden faces pointing up at him, were standing beneath him. It was as though freezing water were rising in his chest, cutting at his insides. And then he heard it again…. Someone was screaming, screaming inside his head…. a Woman….

“ _Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry_!”

“ _Stand aside, you silly girl…._ _stand aside, now…._ ”

“ _Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead_ —”

Numbing, swirling white mist was filling Harry’s brain…. What was he doing? Why was he flying? He needed to help her…. She was going to die…. She was going to be murdered….

He was falling, falling through the icy mist.

“ _Not Harry_! _Please…._ _have mercy…. have mercy…._ ”

A shrill voice was laughing, the woman was screaming, and

Harry knew no more.

~

Draco was feeling quite restless from the morning; he didn’t know whether it was because of the quidditch match that Harry was playing or because of the horrible weather.

Something about today didn’t sit right with him; normally he would have avoided attending other house’s quidditch matches but he had be there to see himself that Harry was alright and not injured; he knew how many injuries Harry had gotten during these matches in the past. Every year someone would try to murder him during a quidditch match at least once.

Plus, he had an excuse to attend; he could easily explain his presence by saying that he was escorting Ivy to the stadium and was there for her not any other reason. Even Blaise who was not even remotely interested in the sport had decided to join them; they were standing under a huge umbrella, Draco had casted all kinds of water repelling; drying and warming charms on three of them; he cared for Harry but that didn’t mean he would risk his or other’s health just for the sake of a match.

Soon, enough the match started; Draco could see that Harry was struggling to maintain on his broom; since he was quite light weight; usually it would have been a plus point for Harry since it would give him more agility and flexibility which was required for a seeker; but today where winds were blowing louder than he had ever seen; not having more muscle could cause Harry to lose his balance on the broom and cause him to fall.

They patiently watch every single player struggle under the heavy rain and thunder; no one could hear the commentary over the roaring thunder; despite all of this Gryffindor was leading with fifty points which was commendable.

They saw Diggory chasing a flash of gold and soon Oliver moved Harry’s attention towards the snitch. And the chase began; he was catching up with Diggory despite his head start but soon enough, an eerie deathly silent stretched all around the field, Draco felt the similar cold feeling in his bones; he shielded Ivy behind his body and started looking around for Harry; when his eyes found him; his heart leapt from his chest; he could see hundreds of dementors floating beneath his mate; Blaise and Draco shared an horrified look; when Draco gave him a stiff nod; Blaise casted discreet cloaking and disillusionment charm as well as notice me not charm as well.

Somehow Harry was still holding on to his broom; but to Draco’s horror he soon lost his grip and started tumbling towards the ground with such force; Draco could see that Harry was not conscious; he couldn’t think of a single spell that would slow down his descent; he thought he would die of anxiety soon; but than he closed his eyes for a few seconds and centred his mind; he reached deep within his subconsciousness; he needed to save his mate for that he needed to control air around him;

He slowly opened his eyes and focused it on his mate; he raised his right hand and focus all of his will power on the air surrounding his mate. And willed the air to stop his descent mid air and soon enough Harry’s body halted with a jerk and stopped mid-air; he greeted his teeth and tried not to lose his focus; slowly lowered his hand as he lowered his mate’s body and gently placed him on the ground. And all hell broke free.

Once he was sure that he touched the ground; he exhaled the breath he was holding and looked at his hand which was shaking madly. He turned towards Blaise and gave him a knowing look; he gave Draco a curt nod and after that Draco ran towards the castle; he knew they would take Harry to infirmary; he needed to be there before the reached.

He needed to see that his mate was safe and unharmed. He hid in an empty classroom and called Harry’s elf, “Hinky”

The elf appeared in front of him, he asks, “Can you please bring me Harry’s invisibility cloak?” the small elf nodded and disappeared with a pop; seconds later; she came back with Harry’s cloak; he threw it on his body and ran towards infirmary to wait for them to bring Harry.

~

“Lucky the ground was so soft.”

“I thought he was dead for sure.”

“But he didn’t even break his goggles.”

Harry could hear the voices whispering, but they made no sense whatsoever. He didn’t have a clue where he was, or how he’d got there, or what he’d been doing before he got there. All he knew was that every inch of him was aching as though it had been beaten.

“That was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Scariest…. the scariest thing…. hooded black figures…. Cold…. Screaming….

Harry’s eyes snapped open. He was lying in the hospital wing. The Gryffindor Quidditch team, spattered with mud from head to foot, was gathered around his bed. Neville, Ron and Hermione were also there, looking as though they’d just climbed out of a swimming pool. “Harry!” said Fred, who looked extremely white underneath the mud. “How’re you feeling?”

It was as though Harry’s memory was on fast forward. The lightning the Grim the Snitch and the dementors….

“What happened?” he said, sitting up so suddenly they all gasped.

“You fell off,” said Fred. “Must’ve been — what — fifty feet?”

“We thought you’d died,” said Alicia, who was shaking.

Hermione made a small, squeaky noise. Her eyes were extremely bloodshot. “But the match,” said Harry. “What happened? Are we doing a replay?” No one said anything. The horrible truth sank into Harry like a stone.

“We didn’t — _lose_?”

“Diggory got the Snitch,” said George. “Just after you fell. He didn’t realize what had happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a rematch. But they won fair and square . . . even Wood admits it.”

“Where is Wood?” said Harry, suddenly realizing he wasn’t there.

“Still in the showers,” said Fred. “We think he’s trying to drown himself.”

Harry put his face to his knees, his hands gripping his hair. Fred grabbed his shoulder and shook it roughly.

“C’mon, Harry, you’ve never missed the Snitch before.”

“There had to be one time you didn’t get it,” said George.

“It’s not over yet,” said Fred. “We lost by a hundred points, right? So, if Hufflepuff loses to Ravenclaw and we beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin….”

“Hufflepuff ’ll have to lose by at least two hundred points,” said George.

“But if they beat Ravenclaw . . .”

“No way, Ravenclaw is too good. But if Slytherin loses against Hufflepuff….”

“It all depends on the points a margin of a hundred either way….”

Harry lay there, not saying a word. They had lost…. for the first time ever, he had lost a Quidditch match. After ten minutes or so, Madam Pomphrey came over to tell the team to leave him in peace.

“We’ll come and see you later,” Fred told him. “Don’t beat yourself up, Harry, you’re still the best Seeker we’ve ever had.”

The team trooped out, trailing mud behind them. Madam Pomphrey shut the door behind them, looking disapproving. Ron and Hermione moved nearer to Harry’s bed while Neville sat on the foot of the bed and placed his hand his feet and asked, “How are feeling Harry?”

He smiled knowingly, “I am fine Nev, little bit sore but fine nevertheless. By the way how am I not dead; I mean who saved me from crashing into the ground.”

Hermione jerked and said, “that’s the issue, no one knows who slowed you down, Dumbledore got rid of all the dementors after you were placed on the ground. He was furious as hell. He was casting a spell on you before to stop you from falling but it looked like it wasn’t working; but how could that be possible!”

Neville stopped her rant and said, “I think we should all head back to common room; Harry needs his rest, we will visit you tomorrow. Take care Harry.”

With that he took both Ron and Hermione with him; they followed him out of the infirmary albeit reluctantly.

As soon as the door closed; Draco took off the invisibility cloak and enveloped Harry in a bone crushing hug.

“You scared the shit out of me Potter.”

“Oh, so I am Potter now.”

“Yes, you are; when you do stunt like these you will be; merlin morgana you are going to be the death of me Harry.”

“I am sorry; you know I wasn’t responsible for this mishap; it was all because of those nasty dementors.”

Draco slowly released him from his arms and sat beside him, “I know; wait till mother hears about this Harry; she going to AK someone after reading my letter.”

“Okay, first of all no murdering anyone; that’s immoral and not to mention unethical.”

“Then you don’t know anything about Malfoys or Black, and surprisingly my mother is both. Heaven forbid someone stand between her and her revenge.”

“That, we will get back to that later; anyways first thank you for saving me you know from falling myself to death.”

“Oh, how did you come to that conclusion?”

“Oh, please charms or curse can only be intercepted or blocked by elements, since I was in the air; it was kind of self-explanatory that you saved me with your elemental ability.”

“Yeah, I did, but trust me Harry; It was the most terrifying moment of my life; I almost believed that I lost you.”

Harry reached forward and laced their fingers together, “but you didn’t; instead you saved me; like you promised; I still remember the first day we met after we went through purging; you promised me that you would never allow anyone to harm me or abuse me. As long as you are with me; I would be alright, I trust you Draco. I trust you to take care of me and watch out for me.”

Draco’s breath hitched hearing those words; Harry was not someone who would trust someone easily; for him to declare such statement meant that he trusted Draco with his life and future; he again covered smaller boy into his arms and placed a sweet kiss on Harry’s forehead.

“Sleep, Harry I will watch over you.”

Harry slurred, “How are Ivy and Irrisss…”

“You will meet them tomorrow; don’t worry they are fine; bit worried but fine. Sleep my lion.”

Soon, Harry succumb to deep undisturbed sleep.

Next few days passed in a blur; since everyone wanted to give him well wishes; Ivy and Iris came by every evening to spend time with him; so, did Remus; Harry explained what he hears around dementors and Prof Lupin suggested that he should learn Patronus charm since dementors are more leaning towards him.

He read his mother’s diary in the spare time when he was not working on his school work or assignments.

But what he learned from it made him more restless and jumpier; he couldn’t figure out what to do with the new information that he had gained. He decided to focus on his work and avoid the other topic for now.

~

The third years had their first Hogsmeade trip as well; because of which the all third-year students were brimming with excitement; which of course Harry could not attend. Every single third year except him was going to this trip which made his mood sour; he was genuinely happy for them all but staying at the castle when it was almost empty made him feel lonely; and frankly speaking Harry hadn’t felt like this since he ran away from the Dursley’s.

All the students left for their visit and Harry was roaming sulkily in the dark corridors of the castle; when Weasley twins approached him and asks, “Why so glum Harrikins”

“Nothing; just feeling lonely since everyone else from my year has gone to Hogsmeade.”

Both Fred and George shared a meaningful look and asks Harry to join them in the kitchens. Which Harry happily obliged, the trio soon reached the dungeons and entered the kitchen through the entrance. They sat down while the house elves started giving them food to feed an entire army.

Then Harry started the conversation, “Thanks guys; for keeping me company; I really appreciate it; since we haven’t gotten to spend much time together since the term started.”

“Always, Happy to help”

“Little Harrikins”

Harry chuckles, “So, what happened after our meeting; we didn’t get time to catch up after that. Ron told me about meeting your grandparents and accepting back into your family; your purging and such, but nothing more substantial.”

“Well, it’s because he doesn’t know”

“what, me and Fred and Charlie have inherited”

“yeah, since, we are last twins who has blood of Prewett”

“We got the heirship of Anceint and Noble house of Prewett”

“It only takes twins as their heirs”

“No one knows why though”

“What about Charlie?” Harry asks.

“Well Charlie’s inheritance is a bit complicated”

“he has inherited creature blood from Black’s”

“since our grandmother is Cedrella Black”

“Which creature blood is that, I might find something that might help him; in our palace library since my great-grandmother was Black as well.”

“well, we’ll ask Charlie to talk to you”

“since only he knows what it is”

They talked about their prank war and Evanston twins’ ingenious ideas for pranks; Afterwards Weasley twins gave Harry a map of Hogwarts which was created by someone named marauders. Harry studies the brilliant piece of magic and when the names show up on the parchment; his face drained all the colour and excitement; he soon figured out that this map was created by his father, godfather and magical guardian with that rat Peter Pettigrew.

Harry takes the map and thanks them for giving him something that his dad made; he doesn’t tell them though. He takes the map and sprints trough the castle towards Remus’s quarters.

He knocks on the door and patiently waits until Prof Lupin opened the door.

He greets Remus and they started talking enthusiastically; Harry shows him the map and asks about their life at Hogwarts. Remus and Harry spend hours getting to know each other and about their friendship and how they would get into all kinds of pranks and mischiefs; and would end up in detention with Filtch or Prof McGonagall.

They spend better part of afternoon and evening talking and reminiscing about past; afterwards Harry takes his leave to meet his friends. When He enters the common room, he is bombarded by treats from everyone; they all brought treats and chocolates for him since he didn’t get to visit the Hogsmeade village. He collects his share from everyone happily and they start giving him all kinds of details from their trip.

All in all, life was going well for him. He was quite happy at the moment.

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do send feedback; it is much appreciated. XOXO


	13. Third Year Part 3

Three months have passed since the term started and they all returned to Hogwarts; but it seems like Harry is still struck with new information each day.

He was still processing what happened few weeks ago, having almost died yet again; put things into more perspective for Harry. Remus tried to gain his custody but it was fruitless; they refused to give him sole custody because of his creature status.

Ivy and Iris made up with him after seeing him fall to his almost death; they couldn’t be angry at him any longer. Draco had saved him without anyone finding it out; it was an achievement in itself; but he shouldn’t be surprised since Draco is Slytherin through and through; he knows how to be discreet and covert, he had also ordered him to write a letter to Narcissa since she was besides herself with worry after finding out about the incident.

He had done so with enthusiasm; since he got on well with Narcissa; they had grown attached after spending so much time, he considered her as mother figure in his life; yeah Molly Weasley still held a very special place in his heart since she was the first woman ever to show him any kindness. But with Narcissa it was different; he didn’t need to think twice before speaking his mind; she would not mother him like Molly but guide him like a mentor which he appreciated more.

The month of festive season was soon approaching them, he still hadn’t heard anything about his godfather from Remus; he was losing hope little by little.

One-night Harry was eating chocolates gifted by his friends and observing the map of Hogwarts; he saw Draco and Blaise lounging in their common room in dungeons, Weasley Twins were roaming around on the seventh floor of the castle; Dumbledore was walking around in his office while Filch was patrolling the corridors on the third floor. 

He decided to see if someone was outside of castle; he first looked at quidditch pitch which was empty, next he looked at Owlery which was empty as well, he saw two seventh years together in the courtyard. He was about to close the map and his eyes focused on the new name that appeared on the edge of Forbidden Forest.

_Sirius Black_

He was looking at the name, and couldn’t believe that he finally found where his godfather was staying, he was hiding in the Forbidden Forest. He swiftly put on his shoes and cloak and took the wand from his night stand, he put on his invisibility cloak and literally ran towards the entrance of the castle, he reached the edge of forbidden forest but he couldn’t see anyone standing there.

Harry casted Lumos and waved his wand trying to find where his godfather might have disappeared, when a huge large black dog came forward from behind the bushes. It was looking vaguely familiar to Harry but he could not remember where he had seen this dog for the life of him.

He steps forward cautiously and lowers his wand when suddenly where the black dog was sitting now stood a dishevelled man with long curly hair, he was looking malnourished and deathly pale; Harry’s mind whirled around at possibilities; the dog must have been his Animagus form. 

The man was about to lose his balance when Harry hurried and helped him keep his balance, “Are you alright?” he spoke with a hoarse voice, “Yes, now that I finally found you, you look just like your dad, Prongslet.”

Harry’s eyes widen at that and he understands who the man is, “Sirius!!!”

He hugs him and clings to him like a lifeline, he finally found his first and last living family; Sirius hugs him with just the same enthusiasm if not more. They are both shading tears, for all the time they lost, for the pain they had to endure, for the family they both had lost.

After a while Harry straitens up and says, “We cannot stay here, it’s not safe for you. The dementors are guarding the school, Sirius.”

He nods and says, “Yeah I know, let’s go; I know just the place.”

With that he turned towards whimping willow, he turned into dog and ran forward dodging huge trees’ branches; he pushed a knot near the roots of the whimping willow and the tree suddenly stopped moving; Harry walked forward; Sirius led him in a tunnel, at the end of it, they reached broken stairs, After climbing them, Sirius led him into an almost destroyed room, it had broken furniture and years of dirt and filth.

Sirius sat down on a mangy looking sofa; Harry looked around; if they were going to talk than at least they needed a proper clean space. He raised his wand and waved around the entire room and casted a very powerful scourgify. In an instant all the dirt and filth vanished; than he started casting mending charm around the room; within a few minutes the room transformed into an informal study; he sat opposite Sirius, who was gaping at him like a fish.

“What?” Harry asks; Sirius shakes his head in fondness and replies, “nothing, you are far more powerful than I thought.”

Harry blushes at the compliment and cast a gentle scourgify on Sirius, his face and body instantly look fresh and clean, afterwards, he calls Hinky, “Hinky”

She appears in front of him, “Yes Master Harry.” He asks, “Can you bring some fresh fruits, cakes tea and some scones for me and Sirius, also bring a pair of fresh clothes which have self-sizing charm on them.”

Hinky nods and disappears with a pop; after several minutes, she comes back with food and clothes. He gives the clothes and asks Sirius to change into them. And sat up the food on the small table in front of them. he transfigures some rocks into goblets, and cast augumanti charm. He waits for Sirius to come back meanwhile pondering on how much to tell and what to do next.

Sirius comes back wearing black trousers with black shirt and a deep burgundy robe, they sat down on the chair and sofa respectively; Harry asks, “Please, eat some food, Sirius you need it.”

Sirius nods and starts devouring food like a maniac but given that he spent last twelve year in Azkaban; he can’t judge him on behaving like that. When he is well fed and content; Harry questions, “If you have to choose between me and Dumbledore whom would you choose?”

Sirius taken aback by the question; he answers, “Of course you, but why would you ask such a thing, after all we are all on the same side.”

“No we are not, A lot of things have happened in past twelve years and even before that, what I am about to tell you will shock you to your core but please keep an open mind and remember when we are done, you are not staying here; you will be staying at my place, no argument there Sirius.”

Sirius meekly nods and asks, “What happened, Prongslet, you are behaving very differently; I don’t understand what is happening; why are you not afraid of me; while everyone believes that I killed your parents and I am a loyal death eater.”

“That’s because I know the truth about you not being the secret keeper.”

Sirius eyes widens, “How? No one, except me, James, Lily, Peter and Dumbledore knew about it.”

“Well, my parents didn’t trust either of them, so they specifically mentioned that Peter Pettigrew was secret keeper in their wills; just in case if something happened.”

“Why didn’t they trust Dumbledore, I mean that man is beacon of light; if they didn’t than how come they didn’t tell me. This is all very confusing pup.” He started pacing around in the room, so Harry requests, “Please, sit down. I will explain everything but you have to be calm and rational about this, this is a long game Sirius trust me.”

He whirled around and looked in to Harry’s eyes, searching for something, and then sat down on his seat. Then Harry slowly began his tale.

“We don’t know the motivation behind Dumbledore’s manipulations; but we know that he has been controlling most of the wizarding population via potions and charms, specifically me and people around me.

In all honestly, it started on that fateful night of All Hollow’s Eve; he wanted to control me, or make me susceptible towards him; we think that everyone who were supposed to care for me if my parents died, were compromised or indisposed because Dumbledore orchestrated it.

In their wills, my parents specifically told that they didn’t want me to go to my aunt & uncle who are muggles, since they hate all things about magic, but still he sent me there, he left me in a basket with a blanket in front of a their home with a letter, they didn’t treat me well, up until my Hogwarts letter arrived; I didn’t even know that I was a Wizard or that magic was real.

Since, I arrived at Hogwarts, I have been thrown into deadly situations one way or the other, but that is besides the point, earlier this year, during summer I ran away from my muggle relatives after having an incident of accidental magic; I went to Gringotts to withdraw some money, and found out that I had several block, potions and charms on myself to make me behave and believe certain way.

I wasn’t the only one, I asked Neville and few others to take the same test as me, it turns out that every single student who attended Hogwarts in last forty years or so has been given these potions and charms. After going through purging we went to live at Malfoy Manor since they are kind of family to me; Prof Snape took over my guardianship for emergency so that I don’t have to go back to those horrible people. Dumbledore gave those potions and cast charms on Hogwarts staff as well.

We discovered that he has orchestrated deaths of many pureblood Lords; which gave him proxy seats, he has been doing horrendous things to everyone Sirius, just few weeks ago he tried to cast imperious on Percy Weasley but since we are teaching everyone occlumency he could throw off his commands.

We need to clear your name Sirius, that too before the summer begins, otherwise he will try to send me back to Dursley’s; we cannot let him know that Snape has my guardianship; Moony tried to take over but they denied him sole custody. We have been trying to find you for the past four months.” Sirius was on verge of tears, “You met Moony?”

Harry smiles, “Yes, he is here at Hogwarts teaching DADA, we met when the school year began, we have been spending a lot of time together learning all about you, mom and dad”

“Did he miss me at all? Or does he still believe that I betrayed him?”

“No, he knows the truth, he tried to send you coded messages through advertisement in prophet, I guess you couldn’t get your hands on it. Anyways, here’s what we are going to do, you will stay at Potter Palace, I will contact Mr and Mrs Tonks for your mental health, I know they won’t allow you my guardianship if they thought you were mentally unstable, but you will see Mr Tonks; he is mind healer he will help you get back to your health, meanwhile I will talk to Lucius and Narcissa, they will demand your trial since he has more control over ministry. Lady Bones owes me a favour so; she will readily agree to help you, she has given me her world that you will be given fair trial, all we need is a trail we can easily prove your innocence through veritaserum. Don’t worry everything will be fine.”

Sirius looked at his pup shell shocked, he was more mature than anyone he has ever met at his age, “Why are you close to the Malfoys’ pup; they are dark family, you should not associate yourself with them at all.”

“Stop right there Sirius, if you are going to be like that, I don’t think I want to help you, from the start I told you to be open minded about everything that I might tell you, here you are showing your prejudice. I am close to them because they are family; the inheritance test also revealed that I have creature blood in me, and Draco is my mate, and He is a Veela. I am going to warn you, if you think that you are my godfather or since you will have guardianship over me; you will stop me from doing what is right, you are dead wrong; I have been on my own practically all my life; I do not need a parent figure in my life so be careful about how you treat the people I care about. One more thing don’t do anything stupid in front of Draco; he is possessive and over protective; if you hurt me even unintentionally, he won’t spare you; just word of advice.”

Sirius looked at the floor sheepishly, feeling embarrassed for getting an earful from his teenage godson. “Alright, I won’t do anything stupid.”

“I still haven’t told you everything but it is getting late, it’s almost midnight now, so, we should wrap it up, and Narcissa will inform you everything else that you don’t know.” “Hinky” She appears in front of him, “Take me to ward room in Palace, I need to add Sirius into the wards.”

She wraps her tiny hands on his fingers and they both disappears with a pop, after few minutes; they both are back, Harry informs Sirius, “Tavi has prepared a room for you on second floor, there are several clothes in my wardrobe which has self-sizing charms, you can wear those, until you get your own, owl order it or ask Tavi to get them for you, you will need a wand; I have a spare one in my study on second floor, Ask any of the house elf they will show you. Please get your health better, we will meet in winter Hols; okay I need to return to my dorms before they find my bed empty and create a ruckus.”

Sirius shouts, “WAIT, I almost forgot.”

Harry asks, “What did you forget Sirius.”

“Peter Pettigrew is alive, you must get him, we can prove my innocence easily with him being alive.”

“How the hell did you forgot such important thing Sirius.”

“Well, you threw a lot of things at me today pup, it is a lot to process.”

“Fine, do you know where he is?”

“Yes, your friend has him.”

“How is that even possible Sirius, you are not making any sense at all.”

“Look, when we learned that Moony was a werewolf, me James and Peter decided to become Animagus, so that we could keep him company during full moons. Your dad’s Animagus form was deer, I am grim and that traitor Pettigrew’s was rat Animagus. He is the rat that is living with your friend for years.”

Harry’s eyes widen, “You mean to say Ron’s rat Scabbers is Pettigrew.”

“Yes, that is what I just said, If you don’t believe me, take the rat to Moony, he will cast counter charm and he will turn into his wizard form.”

Harry nods, “Okay, I will talk to both Ron and Moony about it., for now you should leave for Palace, it’s getting too late.”

He called Hinky and asked her to take Sirius to the Palace. Before leaving Sirius hugged him one last time and then left saying he would write to him soon. After Sirius left Harry threw his invisibility cloak and ran back to the Gryffindor castle, happy with how the night turned out.

~

Next morning, he asked Draco, Blaise and Neville to meet him in Heir’s library. They all went to library after finishing their breakfast.

Harry explained them about last night’s ordeal and everything else, they all released the breath they were holding, Draco gave him a hug congratulating that he solved one of the major issue they were facing, and they decided that they would just take Scabbers away and took him to Prof Lupin to check if he really is Peter Pettigrew, If they asked Ron to give him over than they would have to explain the remaining things as well, Harry didn’t wanna tell about it just yet.

When they went back to dorms to pick their books and bags, Harry looked around to find the rat, when he couldn’t see him, Harry asks Ron, “Hey, Ron, where did Scabbers go?”

Ron gave him an annoyed huff, “he is hiding, I haven’t seen him in two days, I am pretty sure that evil cat Crookshanks ate him, she was eyeing Scabbers for so many days now.”

“Don’t worry, he will turn up, just like usual.”

After that they went to their classes; Since the festive season was near so were the mid term exams, everyone was getting anxious with their studies since they had two more subjects to prepare this year.

Harry was also getting worried, he had taken every subject without hesitation but now that exams were getting near, he was second guessing his essays and schoolwork, even though all of his assignments were checked over by either Draco, Blaise, Neville or Hermione. He was also getting extra lessons from prof Lupin on Patronus charm with Draco, when He had learned that Harry was getting these lessons, he agrees to join him, even though Prof Lupin were surprised by his request he didn’t say anything; they were using a boggart to learn the charm. Lucky for Harry since his boggart was dementor but Draco’s boggart turned into Harry’s battered and mauled dead body. Which caused them to stop their lessons to comfort him. After that they were steadily making progress in their patronus charm.

Ron was moaning about the mountain of essays they were given, even though he was getting help from Lavender in Divination, while Harry was helping him in Transfiguration and DADA, he was getting help from Hermione for rest of his subjects. Days passed in the flurry of activities, classes, assignments, essays and practical; they were neck deep buried in their school work.

One day Harry and Neville decided to meet Hagrid for tea in the evening since they were getting fed up with the amount of work they were getting and decided to take a break; they approached Hagrid’s hut, Harry knocked on the door and waited him to open, Hagrid opened the door with a wide grin on his face, “Hey ‘Arry Neville, yeh both come inside.”

“Hey Hagrid” Both Neville and Harry greeted Hagrid in unison.

Neville asks, “How have you been Hagrid, how are your classes going; do you still need my help planning them out?”

Hagrid gave him a brimming smile, “Thanks Neville, you been mighty helpful; I was bit overwhelmed when classes started.”

They talked a bit more about the trial and Buckbeak’s future, they still had a lot of time to prepare for the trail.

When they were about to leave when Hagrid stopped them and said, “’Arry Can you bring Ron’s rat to him, I found him in the school, tell ‘em to look after his pet; he looks awfully scrawny.”

Harry takes Scabbers in his hand and looks at Neville, they decided to go straight to Prof Lupin, they scurried off from Hagrid’s hut, they reached Prof Lupin’s quarters, Neville knocked on the door while Harry focused his hold over Scabbers since he was trying to get away.

Prof Lupin opened the door and greeted, “Oh, Hello Harry, Neville I wasn’t expecting you, please come inside.”

They both entered the room and Harry asks, “Prof Lupin, do you know any spell that would force an Animagus into his human form.”

Lupin was surprised with the request but nodded nonetheless, Harry said, “Can you cast it on this rat?”

Lupin looked at it, his eyes went wide and looked at Harry who nodded and that was all the confirmation he needed, he asked Harry put the rat down, first Lupin cast a sticking charm so that he would not run away, afterwards he hit with the spell to get him back into his human form; as soon as the red light hit the rat; it transformed into a tiny human form with battered clothes, the man had long nails on his curled up fingers, his entire body was almost turned into round shape, he was ugly as hell and smelling even worse.

Harry almost lost his temper seeing the man responsible for his parents’ death, for his godfather’s imprisonment. But he took a deep breath and casted stunning spell on him from behind before he could do anything.

Neville and Remus were looking at him for explanation; he shrugs, “I don’t want to hear him lie; we all know the truth; it’s useless to waste time on him. I am taking him with me. I know just where to put him.”

He picked the rat and ran to Heir’s library, he picked out a few books on transfiguration and runes, and started plotting, after an hour or so he begin to execute his plan, he asked Hinky to bring some nick necks which had metal in them, he turn the mental into liquid and melded the metal into small rat box, he planted several runes on the box that would contain it’s magical signature as well as stop him from transforming into his human form. He placed the box on the far end of the library behind a large tomb. No one was going to find him here, not even Neville, Draco or Blaise.; since the tomb was about parceltounge.

Once he was done with his work, he released the sigh of relief. He turned around and went to common room to prepare for the night.

~

Soon their midterm exams started, Harry, Hermione and Draco were the only one to take all subjects but Hermione had dropped out of Divination after having a verbal spite with Prof Trelawney. Entire castle was filled with nervous energy; fifth and seventh year were terrified of their OWLs and NEWTs exam’s might turn into disasters.

Harry had finished all of his exams by the time winter holidays approached. Hermione and Ron were badgering him to stay at the Hogwarts, so that they could spend more time and make their friendship a bit like before. But Harry downright refused, he had actual family who would be waiting for him, he would never stay at Hogwarts knowing he get to spend some quality time with his Godfather. He wanted break from them as well, after the purging it was kind of becoming evident that Ron and Hermione were trying to get to his good side now more than ever. But to what purpose, he still didn’t know; after learning all the things he believed to be true; he couldn’t trust a word of what they were saying.

He informed them, he wanted to meet his godmother on Christmas, so he would be spending the holidays with Neville and his grandmother, even Prof. McGonagall looked surprised when he informed her about him not staying at the Hogwarts.

When all of this was happening, the knowledge of what life could have been for him, if certain things hadn’t happened; he was restless and agitated; he still hadn’t told anyone about what he learned from his mother’s journal. He completely forgot about it in the chaos of exams, but now that he was free and didn’t have anything to do, his mind kept wondering around that topic and all the information he had gotten by reading his mother’s journal.

Draco has been noticing sudden changes in Harry’s behaviour since last month; but he dismissed it by thinking that he was worried because of exams and other stuff, but even after their exams ere over; they were going home to their family, Harry would be spending holidays with his godfather and his consort; still Harry’s face was showing signs of melancholy which he couldn’t comprehend. He wanted to address it soon but he didn’t want to upset him further; if he tried to force answers out of him, he might not talk to him at all; he couldn’t take that risk here at Hogwarts. He decided to confront him once they were back at home. Soon December 21st arrived, everyone in the castle was high on the holiday spirits. He and Blaise got dressed and ready to leave for Hogsmeade station, they arrived on time for breakfast.

He looked around to find Harry; who was sitting looking worse than ever; he had large black shadows under his eyes; he looked entirely out of energy. Draco couldn’t wait to get home, he needed to talk to his stubborn mate. He should have expected this; Harry had been on his own his entire life, he would never ask for help on his own, not unless his life depended on it. Soon, it was time for them to leave.

Harry had ditched Ron and Hermione to sit with Neville, Iris and Ivy. He had excused himself by saying he wanted to spend time with twins before the holidays. Their entire train ride was filled with jokes, pranks and silly fights, he almost forgot about his emotional turmoil for a few seconds, but than it suddenly hit him like a tone of bricks. He shook his head and focused on Iris’s lengthy explanation on why she would be better at quidditch than Ivy; appearently Ivy had caught eye of Marcus Flint and Adrian Pucey while flying on the broom, they wanted her to try for quidditch next year, they wanted her to start training to become seeker soon after the holidays. Harry was genuinely happy with that, but having Iris whine about not given preference was not his preferred leisurely activity. 

Soon, they arrived on King Cross Station, Harry said his goodbyes to twins and reminded them they will not to get their presents until Christmas morning. Afterwards he flooed to Longbottom Manor with Neville.

Neville said, “You should floo straight to palace, we will meet each other soon, you need to talk with Sirius and I have feeling Draco is going to corner you once you reach the manor.”

Harry sighed, “I know, I will see you tomorrow Nev, bye.”

He turned and entered the fireplace shouting Potter Palace. When he entered the formal lounge, he saw Sirius glaring at Draco who was completely ignoring his glares. Great, he can’t even catch his breath for five minutes.

Draco stood up from his seat, “Give your luggage to Hinky and ask her to sort it out, you and I are having a long conversation whether you like it or not.”

Harry meekly nodded, he knew not to argue when Draco used that tone, he called Hinky and gave her his luggage. Draco further ordered him, “Go into the backyard, and wait for me there, I will join you shortly”

Harry turned around and left for the backyard, Draco addressed his cousin, “You may be his Godfather, but do remember that if you do or say anything that might hurt him, I will make you regret it, he is and always will be my top priority and I will never allow anyone to hurt him be it emotionally or physically. Remember that always.”

He asked Hinky to deliver some Indian snacks with two cups of very soothing Darjeeling chai. He left to find his mate and get him out of his foul mood.

He found him in the backyard, sitting on grass, assaulting it, snatching it from the earth. He sat down beside him, took his hands in his hand and casted gentle scourgify than asked the million gallon question, “I know something is bothering you since last month; I didn’t want to upset you any further there in Hogwarts; so I let it slide, but it’s been month Harry, something is definitely troubling you and you are losing your sleep over it, your health was just getting better and now you look haunted and pale like before. What’s wrong my lion?”

The dam over his emotions broke and he sobbed like a baby into Draco’s chest. All through out his outburst Draco held him close, rubbing soothing circles on his back and murmuring sweet nothings in his ears. Once Harry calmed down, he began explaining what was bothering him.

_One month ago, In the infirmary_

_Madam Pomphrey had just given him his last dose of potion and left him to sleep it off, but Harry was in the infirmary for past three days now, there was nothing wrong with him physically but still the matron had refused to let him go until the end of week. He was sure that he would die put of boredom; if he didn’t something to occupy his mind. He was ideally counting the cracks on the ceiling when he suddenly remembered his mother’s journal. He hadn’t read it after that day at the palace, he had gotten so busy with studies and class, he completely forgot about it._

_He called Hinky, she appeared in front of him, he asked her to bring his black messenger bag to him. She popped and left and, in an instant, she came back with his bag. He thanked her and dismissed her._

_He opened it and found the last page he was reading and began reading._

_I always felt that I was an outsider in my family, I looked different from them and behaved differently as well, I didn’t know the reason behind it until I turned eleven. On my birthday my parents or the people I believed to be my parents sat me down and explained it to me that I wasn’t biologically theirs’. I was adopted by them at a young age; they also gave me an envelope and said, “We don’t know what is in it. When we adopted you, we were given this envelope and informed to give it to you on your elevon birthday, it was the request made by your father.”_

_I took the envelope from them and went straight to my room and locked myself in. it was a lot to process specially when you only just turned elevon. I ignored the letter as long as I could but my curiosity got the better of me. I finally relented and opened it; it was the letter from my father Harry. The first and last conversation he ever had with me. It was charmed to turn into ash after reading, but I remember every word of it. I want you to understand what I did and why I did it, so please keep an open mind and read it._

**_To my little moon,_ **

**_If you are reading this letter, then sadly I haven’t found you yet; but rest assured I wouldn’t give up until we are reunited my child._ **

**_Before you judge your father; I want you to understand a few things; first of all you are a witch my moon, have you ever felt that some things happens on their own, ever done anything that you couldn’t explain, well it is because you have magic, you have magical blood in your veins. Now I know you want to know about me and your family, you will but I only have one request from you my moon, please don’t judge me too harshly, I know what I have done is unforgivable but it was necessary at that time, I just hope that one day you will understand the situation your father was in and hope that you have in your heart to forgive him._ **

**_It all started when I met your mother on a fielding trip, I was young, barely twenty years old when I met your mother, she was living with her mother and brother in the deep parts of Scotland, I was on the field trip to collect rare ingredients for our apothecary. Her name was Helena, she was eighteen years old when I meet her. I was traveling through rainforest when I stumbled upon their hut. When I first saw her emerging from their home, dressed in deep green clothes that enhanced her emerald eyes with hair dark red that looked like flames of hellfire. She was ethereal beauty, I fell in love with her on first sight, I spent next few days with her family; learning all about them, I soon discovered that they couldn’t cast magic but they knew of it. Which helped me a lot since I didn’t have to explain what I was doing in the deep parts of forest. The more I spend my time with her; the more I fell in love, one day I asked her to accompany me while I would collect my rare ingredients as she knew where I would find them. We spend hours collecting them, when It was close to sunset we returned to her home, when we reached there, we found a few muggles shouting ‘savages’ and throwing things at the hut, they had light the house on fire, we could here your mother’s family’s gut-wrenching screams._ **

**_I casted disillusionment charm on us and tried to save them, but couldn’t, we were too late to stop anything. I asked Helena to come with me since her family was dead and her house was destroyed as well. She was catatonic to even reply to my questionings. I took her with me to our country home in Scotland near mountains. Only few people knew of its existence, so I thought we would be safe there at least for time being. Seeing the muggles burning her family alive made Helena lost her grip to reality. I gave her a few potions and tended to her for few days, after which she became responsive. During these times we became close and our deep admiration for each other soon turned into love. I was a pureblood heir who was supposed to uphold his family tradition and marry a respected pureblood witch, but spending time with Helena made me realise that I could never love another let alone bed someone after all this time. So, I asked my friend and he and few goblins helped me with my bonding to your mother. After which I left for my home to meet my family and convince them about our marriage._ **

**_My mother was very understanding, she accepted my decision but asked me to not tell my father about it, since he was suffering from Dragon pox, which meant he only had very little time left, I concurred that after father’s death I won’t have to think about disappointing anyone since mother already knew. I told Helena about everything, she met my mother and they got along like house on fire, during this period your mother gave me the best news of my life, that I was going to be a father, we were expecting. We spend next few months in pure domestic bliss, but alas everything must come to an end. My secret was discovered by my uncle who didn’t take the news well, he threatened to disown me if I didn’t cut ties with your mother, but I refused and left our home; Soon, the day of your birth arrived, your mother was anxious to meet you both, midwife had warned us that your mother’s pregnancy was complicated due to it being two foetus, your sister’s umbilical cord was wrapped around her throat which made her uneasy and soon after your mother went into labour, you arrived fairly easy, but afterwards complications started, they couldn’t deliver your sister the traditional way so they tried the muggle way but your mother bled to death and your sister came out as still born._ **

**_I had just got best news of my life with the worst news ever, I gained you but lost two more. I lost your mother and sister; we had previously decided to name her Violet while your mother named you Lillian. I tried to raise you all on my own, but soon my uncle found out our hideout and came to threatened me once again. If it was my life, I would have ignored him yet again, but this time he threatened to kill you, I already lost my Helena and Violet; I couldn’t lose you too, so I decided to hide you until the time was right._ **

**_I gave you a potion that would block your father’s lineage from being discovered; it is an old potion mostly known by purebloods to cover up their extramarital affairs’ results. I wrote this letter with hope that if I could not find you before you turned eleven; you would at least know something about me or your family._ **

**_I promise you my moon, I will move heaven and earth to find you; no matter how much time may have passed._ **

**_I just hope you will forgive your father’s one and only grave mistake._ **

**_Yours_ **

**_Loving Father._ **

_I cried for hours after reading that letter, when my Hogwarts’s letter came, it became all very real. I decided that if my father couldn’t find me, I would find him on my own. I entered the wizarding world with sole purpose of finding my father. I focused on potions and charms more than the rest of the subjects because I knew it would help me. It wasn’t until I was in my fifth year, I found out the potion which was used on me. I soon discovered the counter potion as well. I decided to stay at Hogwarts for winter holidays and brew the potion to finally find out about my father._

_I gathered all the necessary ingredients and successfully brewed two potions, one was counter potion and another was hereditary potion to learn about my family. First, I drank the counter potion and then after a while I added few drops of my blood in the hereditary potion, and then I poured it over the parchment, soon I saw it unravels my family history. My mother was the decedent of King Arthur’s bloodline, seeing the chart it made me realise that we are the only living decedent from this royal bloodline, rest of the people who belonged to it were dead._

_When I read my father’s name, I was shocked to see that I belonged to a pureblood family from sacred 28. I had heard about this family, I knew a boy who had the same surname, he was two years younger than me, I decided that I would ask around before approaching him, I didn’t knew if he still wanted to meet me or not, I met the boy who was my cousin, I inquired about my father, his face fell and explained that his uncle had disappeared two years ago, no one knew where he was right now. Everyone believed that he died during one of his expedition._

_My heart broke into million pieces learning that I was two years late to find my father. It took me better part of year to cover from this, since I went into depression. Soon, after your father got his act together and we started dating each other. I completely forgot about the lineage part and what it meant._

_We graduated from Hogwarts and I started working as apprentice for potion masters, during this time war was at peak. Your father and I got married soon and after two years we were expecting you. We spend entire year without any hitches; When out of the blue Dumbledore came to our house and warned us that Voldemort was going to target you, that was the time when I realised that if they found out about you being royalty, they would cause even more problems for us and specially you. So, despite my better judgement, I gave you the same potion that my father gave me to hide my side of lineage until it was right time._

_Afterwards, Dumbledore demanded that we go into hiding to protect you, at that time I found out that I was pregnant again, you were going to be a big brother, when I told you about this, you were the happiest one and half year old I had ever seen. But call it a mother’s instinct, I somehow got the feeling that we would not come out alive from this hiding, so before we went into hiding, I drank the same potion to block both of parentage so that no one would harass them, Afterwards I went shopping in muggle London and found a gentle souled woman, I placed my embryo on her uterus and gave her a few potions and altered her memory so that she wouldn’t question her pregnancy and left her._

_The thing is Harry, in hurry I didn’t altered potions properly to give her the magical stability, since I forgot that, I don’t know if the pregnancy even survived the initial stage. It is almost impossible for a magical child to survive without family magic and I had blocked both the sides, I hope for your sake that they survived whoever they are. I want you to be happy with your own family. I grew up being alone and I didn’t want you to feel the same, I always wanted more than two children, but I don’t know if they survived or not. But my son, if you ever met someone with whom you feel unexplainable connection; there might be a slight chance that they are your siblings. I hope they are alive and you will reunite with them._

You see Draco, I might have some siblings or might not; I don’t even know to which pureblood family I belong, seeing my track record; I don’t think I will ever get good news out of this, I am worried what these tests or results might reveal, right now I can believe that they are out there somewhere; alive and happy even though I don’t know them, but if I take those potions and test and it reveals that they didn’t survive; I…. I don’t even want to consider it as a possibility; how am I supposed to decide what to do? It is all very confusing and frustrating.”

Draco put Harry by his side from his lap, “Do you trust me Harry?”

Harry gave him a scathing look and said, “Of course, I do. What kind of question is that?”

Draco gave him a small smile and said, “Good, then leave it to me. I will take care of this problem. You go and spend some quality time with your godfather. Don’t think about this, it’s my responsibility now.” Then he dropped a sweet kiss on his forehead and left for manor.

~

Harry found his godfather in the gardens running around in his Animagus form; chasing squirrels. He laughed at Sirius’s antics and soon joined him in the physical activity. They ran around like wild animals for almost and hour; Sirius turned into his human form and sat down beside Harry.

“The blondie must be a very good boyfriend if he got you out of such foul mood.”

Harry turned bright red and spluttered, “He is not my boyfriend, Sirius. We are only friends.”

Sirius raised his one eyebrow in question and Harry whines, “Yes, don’t assume things like that Sirius.”

“Fine, whatever you say, Prongslet.”

Harry asks, “Did you visit Gringotts?” Sirius scowls, “yes, and its because of you that the old meddling coot is still alive, I swear to god when I get my hands on him, I will pull my cruellest pranks on him.”

Harry furrows his eyebrows and asks, “No killing him than?”

Sirius turn to him and says, “OH, No, Andy and Cissa has called dibs on that one. Trust me you do not want to come in between a Black woman and her revenge.” His entire body shivered as if he was hit by a cold breeze.

“What is it with Black woman and revenge plots, Draco said the same thing to me a month ago.”

Sirius nods, “And it would do well for you if you remember it, I was raised by a Black Lady trust me on this Harry. Do not ever get on the wrong side of Black family, specially a Black lady, they wear the proverbial pants in relationships and rules the world.”

They spent the next few hours chatting and reminiscing old days; Sirius told Harry all sorts of stories from his childhood. Hinky pops in front of him and informs him that Remus had arrived at the palace. Harry took Sirius to front parlour to greet Remus, he hugged him and welcomed him to his home. He felt the unresolved tension between Sirius and Remus, so he decided to give them space and left for his study. He was reading statements sent by Farlig when the fireplace in the study roared and Neville came out, Harry gave him a bewildered look, So, Neville asks, “Did you really thought we would forget our routine dinner plans?”

Harry have him a sheepish smile, “I just thought you would want to spend some time with your Gran, that’s all.”

Neville shakes his head, “No, and today everyone else is joining us for dinner as well. Come on work your magic and ask your cooks to prepare some mouth-watering food. Will you.”

Harry laughs at that, but soon leaves with Neville to find kitchens, they found Tipsy and Nipsy, he asks them, “Can you manage to make food for at least twelve people on short notice? They are coming in about four hours.”

Their huge eyes turn even more wide and Tipsy says, “Of course, Master Harry. Would you like to select tonight’s menu?”

Harry nods and asks, “Yes, what do we have in pantry, it will make my task much easier.”

Tipsy listed all the available groceries, meat and vegetables in the pantry; Harry nodded and declared, “Okay, for starters make chicken kababs or grilled chicken with smocked vegetables on the side, for soup make some simple vegetable stew, for mains make curried meat or chicken curry with butter roti or naan, with jeera rice and spicy dal makhni, for dessert make mango pudding and shahi tukda. And yes, for sides make some veg stir fry as veg option if someone wants to omit the meat.”

Neville grins, “Now, we are talking, I swear to merlin Harry, you have just learned about your heritage a few months ago but you know the cuisine inside out now.”

Harry smiles at that, “I have always loved cooking Nev, at first it was to please my relatives but afterwards I genuinely loved cooking and Indian cuisine is part of me; of course, I learned everything about it as much as I can, but it has so many recipes and dishes Nev. We haven’t even tried the south Indian cuisine yet, there are so many different variants of cuisine; I am gonna have so much fun, only if Tipsy or Nipsy would allow me to cook in the kitchen. They have forbidden me from doing anything in the kitchen.”

Neville laughs out loud at that, they left to find other occupants of the palace after that.

~

Draco left Harry with his cousin and went straight to Malfoy Manor’s library. He knew the potion Harry’s mother had talked about; he had read about it from one of the books in the manor, all he had to do was to find that book. Harry had been tormenting himself with this heavy burden for a month now, he will be damned if he let him get hurt even more. He would learn about it, he would make sure that whatever happens Harry would be Happy at the end, he will make sure of it, his mate has been through enough as it is. He will never let anyone take his happiness away from him.

He searched entire section of the library, but he couldn’t find the book, he was busy with rummaging through another section when his mother entered the library, “Dragon, what have you done, entire study looks like you have duelled with someone here.”

Draco looks up from his book and sighs in relief, “Mother, thank merlin you are here, will you please give me that old potion recipe to hide the lineage of a parent. I need a counter potion of that.”

Narcissa gives him a glare, “Why do you need such a potion Draco? What have you done?”

Draco rolls his eyes, “I haven’t done anything, I need it for Harry, mum. Please I need to brew it before Christmas. Help me find it. Will you?”

Narcissa sighs, “Stop fretting Dragon, I know where it is.” She went to other side of library and pulled out an old tomb from top shelf and gave him. “It will take only a few hours to brew the potion. Harry fire called and informed us that we are all having dinner at palace tonight, so please make sure you are finished before we have to leave for dinner okay.”

Draco is lost in reading the instructions and he nods to his mother absentmindedly. Narcissa shakes her head in exasperation and left him to his device.

Draco spent next five hours learning how to brew the potions, he collected the necessary ingredient with the help of Dinky and successfully brewed the counter potion. Then he went on to brew the hereditary potion, he needed to know about Harry’s linage before Christmas eve to execute the plan that he had in mind. If everything works out as he had envisioned than this would be Harry’s best Christmas ever. By the time of dinner both the potions were ready; he put the counter potion in a vial and took it with him with an empty vial. Then he went to his room and got dressed for dinner. He wore simple black trousers with dark blue shirt and a black jacket. He put on his shoes and left for Palace, since everyone else has left already.

When he arrived, he was greeted by full house, Cousin Sirius and Prof Lupin were conversing with Uncle Ted, His mother was chatting up with Zaira and Aunt Andromeda and Neville’s Gran. While His father was in a serious conversation with Harry. Blaise and Neville were chatting with his cousin Nymphadora. If someone had told him that these group of people would be this close with each other a few months ago, he would have sent that person straight to Janus Thickey ward of Saint Mungos, but seeing everyone at ease with each other, he let out the breath he was holding.

Harry looks up at him and gives him one of those bright smiles that Draco adores. Merlin what he wouldn’t do to keep Harry smiling like that. He gave him a warm smile in return and Harry took everyone to Dining hall, everyone took their seat around the table leaving head of the tables and both of its side empty, Harry furrows his eyebrows in confusion and took out the seat of the head for Harry to sit and guided him towards it. Afterwards Draco took his left side and Neville his right side.

Harry snapped his fingers and both the elves brought all the food one by one. Everyone was gobsmacked with the menu and the way entire dining hall was wafting with different kinds of smells. Everyone started digging in earnestly, everyone praised the choice of menu. Sirius moaned over bite of chicken curry and said, “Pup, this is the best food I have eaten in a long time.”

Everyone continued their chats with each other, while enjoying every morsel of food. Soon, deserts were served, Harry and Draco were quietly conversing about the potion and suddenly Uncle Ted asked, “Harry, since you are back to palace for holidays, are you amenable to continue our sessions soon?”

Harry nodded with a bit of hesitation and said, “Um, Sure but can we do it after Yule, so that I can finish all of school work.”

Uncle Ted smiles softly and agreed and the rest were relishing their mango pudding, when Sirius asked, “Um, why do you need mind healing sessions Pup?”

Harry stiffened at that inquiry and frantically searched for something to focus on; Draco saw that and took charge of the situation, “Harry, if you don’t want to talk about it, you can give uncle Ted permission to discuss your condition with your godfather, he is going to be your guardian anyways, its best if he understands what is happening. Hmm.”

Harry released the breath he was holding and turned to Uncle Ted, “Can you please inform Sirius about our sessions.” Uncle Ted nodded and Harry gazed down at his desert, no longer in the mood for eating it, he was playing with his food; Draco said, “If you are done Harry, would you please prepare your room for sleepover, I was thinking me, Blaise and Neville could stay the night here with you, since four of us don’t get to spend much time together. What do you say?”

Harry perked up at that, “Sleepover, really, I have never had one of those, I am gonna go and get ready for that, can we build a fort please Draco, pretty please.” He begged him with his big green emerald eyes filled with innocence and hope. Draco chuckled, “Sure but don’t go overboard, go ahead and start we will catch up with you soon.”

As soon as he said those words, Harry sprinted towards his suite with bounce in his step. Everyone saw their interaction and smiled fondly at Draco’s way of handling the delicate situation. Once Harry was out of reach, Draco stiffened his posture and barked, “I don’t care if you are parent, guardian or merlin himself, but from this moment forward, NO One and I mean no one would question Harry about his past life with muggles, no will ask him any intrusive question about his mind healing sessions, no one will bother him for more information about this at all. I will not tolerate anyone of you upsetting him any further. Do I make myself clear?” His entire body was shimmering with silver aura while his eyes were gleaming with pure vengeance for anyone to dare question or even protest him.

Everyone meekly nodded, even adults were terrified with what was happening. Draco stood up and left with Neville and Blaise to find Harry.

Once they were out of reach, Remus asked, “What just happened?” Sirius nodded with him.

Narcissa bites his bottom lips and said, “How much guys do you know about their inheritance and blockage.”

Sirius and Remus looked shell shocked, Sirius replied, “Nothing, he told me he was under potions and charms; he didn’t tell me anything about blocks of inheritance.”

Narcissa explained, “Well, all four boys have had blocks on their creature inheritance with their family magics, and inherited traits as well, since these blocks lasted two years and they were blocking their instincts as well. Removing them caused their instincts to double up, catching up on their lost time, since they are spending so much time together; it has accelerated the process. Draco is dominant Veela, which makes him in charge of his mate’s wellbeing; you all saw how well Draco managed when Harry was feeling uncomfortable. You also saw Blaise taking care of Neville even though he hadn’t said anything, they are getting familiar with each other’s creature’s nature as well as their demands. What we saw was Draco’s veela power manifesting. The boys first stage of inheritance is in next six to seven month. So, they will have power surge and their bonds will grow closer together. I will only suggest that no one interferes with them. if they are having raw or anything that might upset them, leave them be. Let them come to you, but don’t approach them. Their instincts are already going haywire; if provoked, they won’t differentiate between friend or foe, not when their creatures were blocked for years. Just be careful Sirius.”

He snarled, “I will fucking kill that manipulative piece of shit, those boys would have died if the blocks weren’t removed before their fourteen birthdays’.”

Narcissa and Andromeda nodded along with Zaira, they were all mothers; who would do anything for their children and to learn someone messing with their kids’ lives like that. They were itching to get back to the old coot, but they had to wait. It was a long game. They couldn’t mess it up by enacting rushed revenge plots. Not when their children’s life depended on it.

Afterwards Sirius, Remus and Ted had conversation about Harry’s upbringing; Narcissa and Andy had to give calming draughts to both men to calm them down. All adults were now on full on revenge mode, they concurred, what if they couldn’t go after him right away, that didn’t mean they couldn’t make his life miserable. They all had several ideas on how to make the old coot’s life living hell. The adults were happy being petty like that. So that’s that.

~

Draco reached Harry’s room with Blaise and Neville in his tow, Harry’s room was second biggest suite in the Palace, when they entered, they couldn’t believe their eyes, Harry had transformed entire room in merely twenty minutes.

His king-sized bed was gone, and in the middle of the room were two huge matrasses, on top of them were at least twenty fluffy pillows with blankets. Entire section was covered with canopy made with barest of white fabric, it was looking almost like water. There were small candles floating mid-air around the room, covering the room with ethereal golden glow, there were two sets of trays beside their makeshift bed, containing some bite fruits and hot chocolate.

Harry turned around and saw them, standing with their mouth wide open and shocked with the room’s transformation. He nervously fidgeted in his place and asked, “Is it too much guys? I have never had sleepover before so I don’t know if I went overboard.”

Draco shakes his head and replied, “No, it looks marvellous. Let’s get settled, shall we?”

Afterwards, they spent next two hours talking, playing exploding snaps and muggle game called truth and dare on Harry’s insistence but they all enjoyed it. Soon, they fell asleep tangled in each other’s limbs.

Next morning, Draco woke up first, his nose pressed in Harry’s dark hair; while Harry was snuggling in his chest. Draco took the sight in front of him, he drank all the attention Harry was giving him and smiled at his lion’s adorable expressions.

He pressed soft kiss on his head and murmured, “Good morning lion, it’s time to wake up.”

Harry blearily opened his eyes on hearing someone calling him, he looked at Blonde’s face and smiled, “Good Morning Draco.”

Even though they had woken up, they spent next thirty minutes or so snuggling each other and talking softly in hushed voices to not wake the others. After a while, they got up and went to take shower in their rooms, they were ready for their day within next hour.

Draco was waiting for Harry to come out of his room, when he existed his room, Draco approached him, “Hey, Harry do you have a minute?”

He nodded and leads them both to his study, once inside Draco closed the door behind him and turned to Harry, “I know, you are scared and you do not want to ruin your assumption that you have made about your family, but I promised you Harry that I will take care of it. So here, this is counter potion to what was given to you. I want you to drink it.”

Harry stared at the vial Draco was holding, he was scared shitless, alright; he didn’t want to lose his imaginary family, for him they were real enough but having proof that they didn’t survived and he was all alone just like before would break him completely but on the other hand he trusted Draco with his life, so when he said he would take care of it; he would..

So, Harry took the vial from his hand and drank the potion, the taste was absolute horrid, merlin, you would think they would make the potions tastes better if wizards are supposed to take them frequently.

Draco smiled softly at him and said, “Now, you look like you, perfect mixture of your dad and mum.” He conjured a full-length mirror and showed him his reflection. He looked surprisingly similar but still different, his hair was still messy and dark brown almost black, his eyes were still emerald green, the difference was his nose and jaw, he had his mother’s features in that. He smiled at his image and turned to Draco and hugged him, “Thank you, for doing this. You don’t know how much this means to me Draco.”

Draco shushed him, “I know, Lion, I know how much it means to you. Now will you please give me a few drops of blood.” He held put another vial which was empty. Harry pricked his fingers and filled the vial with his blood, once he was done Draco quickly casts episky on his finger.

He dopped one last kiss on his forehead and left for manor, assuring Harry that he would take care of everything once again.

Harry was getting addicted to the physical affection Draco was giving him lately, growing up he was always left alone no one looked at him with affection let alone show him any. So, when Draco would do it, he would preen internally with how he was being showered with care. There wasn’t anything sexual about their hugs or kisses; they were completely harmless and innocence. But to Harry they were proof that someone was loving him and caring for him, even when he couldn’t.

~

Draco went straight to him potions lab, he had lots to do and not enough time. He took out the vial containing Harry’s blood, he dropped the blood in the hereditary potion and wait for few seconds, he pulled out a long parchment and poured the potion on the paper. Now all he had to do was to wait. He didn’t need to wait for more than few seconds because soon the entire parchment started filling with history of Harry’s ancestors.

What he saw was boggling him mind. How in merlin’s name did he get such a powerful mate as his second half was still baffling to him. His Harry had blood from five noble and most ancient houses and he was only living male decedent of King Arthur’s bloodline.

He quickly double takes and notes all the living relatives of Harry, he needs them for his Christmas gift for Harry. He only needs to contact one family; everyone else were pretty much close to them already. Plotting his master plan, he went straight to his father’s study and found his father working on his declines for the Christmas balls and New Year’s Eve balls. They had decided unanimously that this year; they would spend the holiday’s with family and close relatives only. They had also cancelled their legendary Christmas ball for which Pansy was still very cross with him, that girl had unhealthy obsessions with balls, and grand couture fashion.

“Father, I need your help with something.” Lucius looks up from the desk, folds his replies in the envelopes and gets up, “Of course Draco, what do you need?”

“I need you to arrange a informal meeting with Lord Greengrass as early as possible, if you can arrange it for today, it would be much more convenient. And on that note do you know where his Uncle Tilbert Greengrass is these days?””

“That’s an odd request Draco, and no one knows where Tilbert Greengrass is, why do you need to talk to Lord Greengrass?’

“I can’t tell you that, hharry deserved to be the first one to know about this, specially when it affects him the most.”

Lucius sighs, “Alright, give me a few minutes, I will fire call him and see if he is amenable for a meeting.” With that Lucius went to the fireplace to contact Lord Greengrass. After several minutes, Lucius came back and informed Draco, “He had agreed to meet with us after an hour. You should go and change your clothes in something more flattering.”

“Yes father.” With that Draco left for his room, and went straight to his wardrobe and pulled his favourite pair of robes, they were in midnight blue with silver accents. He quickly styled his hair and put on his leather shoes. He met his father in front parlour, who was waiting for him. Draco put his wand into holster and stand beside his father and said, “Ready, father.”

Afterwards, they both flooed to Greengrass Manor. When they came out on other side, they were greeted by Lord Greengrass himself.

He welcomed them, “Welcome to Greengrass Manor, Lord Malfoy and Heir Malfoy. Please follow me to the informal lounge.”

He led them towards the depths of the manor, they reached the informal lounge shortly, Lord Greengrass asked elves to bring some tea and scones, then Lord Greengrass addressed Draco, “Now that all pleasantries are out of the way, how can I help you Heir Malfoy?”

Draco straightens up his posture and said, “Please, call me Draco. And you can help me by giving me whereabouts of your Uncle Tilbert Greengrass.”

Lord Greengrass looked taken aback by the straight forwards approach of the young lad, he smiles softly and said, “Alright, well, we don’t know where exactly he is, but I know the place. He left the Britain years ago when I was still at Hogwarts, for years we believed we had lost him, until he came back few years ago. He is very secretive about where he is staying, all he has informed us is that he lives in middle of jungle.”

Draco muses out loud, “So, he went back, of course he did. He is living in the rainforest of Scotland. Isn’t he?”

Lord Greengrass couldn’t hide his shock at that, “How did you know that?”

Draco smiles, “That is not my secret to tell, but I would like to formally invite you, lady Greengrass and your daughters for Christmas eve dinner for helping me with this, please you have to join us if want to know the truth of it all. Trust me; it is going to be best news you have heard in a long time.”

Once again Lord Greengrass looks flabbergasted by the gall of the teen, “Of course, we will join you for the festivities. Please expect our arrival at appropriate time.”

Lucius watched the entire conversation happening right in front of him, he didn’t stop Draco; he knew when it came to Harry, it was useless to make him see reason and beside he was sure whatever Draco was doing was just to make his mate happy. So, he let it be.

They soon flooed back to manor, Draco quickly went to Blaise’s room and found him reading his arithmancy book, he said, “Blaise, I need a favour from you.”

“Of course, what do you need now Draco.” Blaise said in exasperated voice.

“Could you sound any less enthusiastic about helping me.”

“Draco the favour, will you get to the point.”

“Oh, yeah, I want you to find out where Iris and Ivy are living in muggle world and bring them to Manor for Christmas eve dinner. Ask any of the adult to accompany you? But make that happen, for Harry, please.”

“Wow, I never thought I will live to see the day the great ice prince of Slytherin would beg me to do him a simple favour.”

Draco glared at him, “Alright, we will see how it goes when you need help when it comes to Neville.”

Blaise sobered up at that, “Fine, I will take care of it.”

“One more thing Blaise, I am going on the fielding trip with Severus, we might not be back before Christmas, Mother and Father already knows so that’s not an issue but will you please make sure Harry doesn’t freak out, when I am not here. Its all for him so he wont stay mad at me for long, I hope but I cant talk to him where I am going, nit without talking to the man first.”

Blaise gives him an incredulous look, “Whatever you are doing, it is important enough that you are leaving three days before Christmas so I won’t ask, but please be careful; if anything happens to you Harry and Neville will skin me alive.”

Draco laughs out loud at that, “Of course, you guys have nothing to worry about, Godfather has taken me on a lot of trips like this, only difference is this time I will be leading it.”

“Nevertheless, be careful, and give me the list of gifts you have chosen for everyone; I will take care of that.”

Draco sighs and hands over the parchment, “I have already owl order the ticked items when we were at Hogwarts and rest of the stuff, I was supposed to buy personally but it isn’t possible now, will you call me on the mirror if get the chance.”

“Yeah, sure, don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks Blaise, I will see you at Christmas bye.”

With that he flooed to his Godfather’s house in Spinner’s end. He called out to him, “Severus.?”

He came from the labs looking as grumpy as ever. “Draco what are you doing here?”

“We are going in the rainforest of Scotland to fetch someone important and to collect the ingredients for the potions for Neville’s parents. Come on, change into your hiking clothes and take your collecting kit, we are running out of time.”

Severus knew not to argue when Draco was in such mood, beside he wanted to collect those rare ingredients for quite some time now, he could take care of that while doing whatever the spoiled brat demanded from him. They got ready quickly for their hike and Severus took Draco’s arm and apparated them to hiking point of rainforests in Scotland. It was still early in the afternoon so they started their hike without any difficulty.

~

Harry was having time of life, Remus was the most intelligent person he had ever met, he was doing his Ancient Runes work when he showed him how to improve his essays in runes. They quickly got into heated discussion of runes and its practical application in wizarding world. That’s how Sirius found them two hours later, he reprimanded both of them for focusing on his work more than the time, he demanded that both of them leave his work and go have lunch with everyone else since they were all waiting for him.

When Harry, Remus and Sirius entered the dining hall, Blaise and Neville were already seating there, he looked around to find Draco but he wasn’t anywhere to be seen, harry thought must be busy with his problem than. He joined them and they all had lovely lunch while enjoying Sirius’s escapades in Hogwarts.

Soon, afternoon turned into evening and evening turned into night. Harry was siting with Remus and Sirius when Blaise and Neville entered the front parlour. He asked, “Hey guys, have seen Draco, I haven’t seen him since the morning, he didn’t even join us for dinner today. Has something happened?”

Blaise sighed and mentally prepared himself for worst three days of his life, “Actually, Harry Draco is gone on the fielding trip to collect rare ingredients for potions with his Godfather. They will be back within three days.”

Harry screamed, “WHAT?”

Neville and Blaise shared a concerned look with Remus and Sirius, they knew both boys were infatuated with each other, it wasn’t going to be easy for them to handle Harry, specially when Draco was not here to handle his mood swings.

Neville tried to placate him, “Harry, he will be fine; he has gone on these trips before multiple times, and Prof Snape is with him. They will be back before you know it.”

“That’s not the point, how could he have left like that, without even telling me first. Urghhhh, he is so infuriating, I swear to merlin I will hex him straight to next year; when he comes back.”

With that he left the parlour, stomping his feet and muttering profanities under his breath. Sirius commented, “It’s not even a day yet, and I miss the blonde, he handles him so well. I didn’t know my godson was this handful.”

Remus swatted back of his head, “Be, serious for once Padfoot.”

Sirius grinned and said, “But I am Sirius.”

Remus gave him a scathing look, after which Sirius quickly left the parlour running to his room for safety.

Remus and Neville took the task of looking after Harry, since Blaise had to complete the task Draco left for him. One day was already finished, only two more days and Blonde would be back, hopefully with good news to calm Harry’s anger, otherwise they would all be spending their Christmas eve in the doghouse.

~

It has been two days, since they started their hiking; still Draco and Severus hadn’t found the place they were looking for, they had collected all the ingredients they needed, now they were taking a small reprieve to catch their break. They had sat up their camp near a small stream and Draco was washing his face and hands to get ready for bed. He was missing long hot bath so intently; it wasn’t even funny. He hadn’t taken a proper shower or bath for two days. They still had one more day to go before they could leave for the manor.

Draco was sleeping on the grass and looking at the moon and stars; he was wondering whether he would even find him at all. He had come here with such hope to fulfil Harry’s one and only wish and he wasn’t even suer if he could do that. The more time they spent in the forests, the more hope he lost. Now, he wasn’t even sure if he was in the right place.

He closed his eyes and slowly exhaled the breath he was holding, he mentally preyed, ‘give me one small hint that I am on the right path, lady Hecate. I need guidance.’

He opened his eyes and saw his godfather preparing their dinner on bonfire, he was lucky to be here with him otherwise he would have starved himself, he didn’t know a single thing about cooking at all. Both sat down together and enjoyed the roasted vegetables and meat; his godfather had prepared. They finished their meal in companiable silence enjoying the chirping of crickets and hooting of birds. Draco was about to get inside the tent and call it a night; when suddenly his eyes found a golden wisp, hovering over the ground few feet away from him, he took a step towards it, than suddenly it went further back, Draco again took step towards it and it went further away, realising that the wisp wanted him to follow it, he followed it deep into the forest, his godfather shouting his name behind him, trying to catch up with him.

The wisp led Draco to a two-story coach house, in the middle of nowhere. He looked around but he couldn’t find his godfather anywhere, he didn’t even know the way back since he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings while following the wisp. He mutters curse under his breath and takes a step forward toward the house and knocks on the door.

After two or three minutes of wait the door to the house opened and a man around the age od sixty was standing while the door may have opened but the man was standing half behind the door, he was shielding himself with it, so to speak.

The man asks, “What do you want? How did you find this place?”

Draco gives him a strained smile and informed, “Sorry, to bother you at such ungodly hour but me and my godfather were collecting rare potion ingredients, we sat up a camp near a stream, after a while I somehow followed a wisp which led me here, now I don’t know where am I or where my godfather is. Will you please help me find my way back?”

Man looked at him for quite some time before speaking, “Alright, I will show you the way back, I will only take twenty-five minutes to reach if we are talking about the same stream.”

Draco nodded and step aside so that the man could come outside, the man took a lamp with him and closed the house behind him. They were walking silently until Draco cursed himself for forgetting, he introduced himself, “Sorry, I didn’t introduce myself earlier, I am Draco Malfoy.”

The man stopped walking abruptly and whirled around to face Draco, “What is heir to the most ancient and noble house of Malfoy doing in the middle of jungle?”

Draco stared at him wide eyes and said, “As I said earlier, we are collecting rare potion ingredients. By the way how do you know about the heir thing.”

The man scowls, “Of course, I am Tilbert Greengrass, former Lord of most ancient and noble house of Greengrass.”

Draco falters in his steps and lands himself on his butt, he stands up abruptly and asks, “Are you really Tilbert Greengrass?”

Tilbert furrows his eyebrows and says, “Of course I am, what do you take me for lad. I am no liar.”

Draco whoops his fist in the air in celebration, he exclaimed, “finally, we have been looking for you for two days now. Thank merlin I was starting lose hope.”

Tilbert looked sceptical and takes a step back, “Why on earth were you looking for me?”

Draco stopped grinning and looked at Tilbert’s face and so apprehension; he internally berated himself for being careless, he said, “I am sorry, I should have explained myself properly. I know this is going to sound a little alarming to you but trust me I am here with good news only.”

Tilbert made no move to change his position and Draco further explained vaguely, “I am sorry, I cannot take you to your moon, but I can help you meet the star that came from her.”

He hoped that Tilbert would understand the underlying meaning of that statement. He saw the understanding downing on him, his face showed several expressions in few seconds, first confusion, then anxiety; than clarity and then the look of pure joy, he mutters, “No it can’t be!” he looks up at Draco and asks, “Are you sure?”

Draco nods and gives him the warmest smile, Tilbert steps forward and envelops him in a bear hug. He was in tears while speaking, “You are an absolute angel. Take me to them; please I have been waiting for years.”

Draco understood the sentiment; he nodded and both od them darted forward the camp that Draco and Severus had sat up.

After only a few minutes they reached their destination, Severus was pacing furiously outside the tent, he was muttering under his breath when he saw Draco came from far side of the stream, he almost ran to him, he scolded his godson, “Staying with Gryffindors has turned you into one as well, Draco. You shouldn’t have gone away like that without discussing with me first, you do realise that I am responsible for your wellbeing. If anything has happened to you both your parents would have roasted me over a firepit without a second glance.”

Draco rolls his eyes, “Stop being melodramatic Sev, nothing happened and look; I found the person we came here for.”

Severus looked at the man beside Draco and introduces himself, “I am Severus Snape. Draco’s godfather and potion master. And you are?”

Tilbert smiled lightly and said, “I am Tilbert Greengrass.”

After that Draco declared that they were going back in the next morning; which was in about four to five hours, so they should get some shut eye. The morning came as quickly as they expected, they started their descends towards the apparition point, Draco knew It would take them better part of day and half to reach it, that is if they were lucky. He mentally berated himself for not preparing a home portkey. If he had than they could have been back to manor by now. Well, no point in moping about it now. He couldn’t even use his magic properly; this entire forest was filled with magical plants and magical fields which were interfering with everyone’s magic. He sighed and resigned himself for another day and half of torture. Fortunately, Tilbert was a great company comparing to his won Godfather. He had been telling him so many different stories, despite being in foul mood, he found himself enjoying his over the top stories. He smiled internally, harry would be happy to meet him. Oh, just two days and he could execute his plan. His mate would be the happiest on Christmas eve. He would make sure of it.

~

Remus groaned and sat down on the couch, he and Neville were at wit’s end on how to handle Harry, he had destroyed his study completely on the second day, and managed to put it together as well. He was moody and cranky that everyone was avoiding him. Today Remus convince him to practise Patronus charm but he couldn’t do it, his mind wasn’t in the task. He dismissed Harry and who left to brood in silence. They had to endure another day like that, the next thing h=they knew, it was Christmas morning.

Sirius was mentally listing all the horrible pranks to pull on blondie, because today harry was by far in worst state. For two days he had been cranky, moody and a bit of a prat; but today he saw Harry’s face, he was on the verge of tears. Sirius didn’t know Harry was this much attached to the Malfoy brat, but looking at Harry’s sullen tear streaked face; he was about to march and haul the blonde’s ass to the manor even if it was the last thing he would do.

Harry understood what others didn’t; Draco was gone because of him, he was taking care of Harry’s issue and now it was Christmas morning, their first holiday together and Draco was still nowhere to be found. All Harry wanted was to spend some time with his family; which meant Draco as well, but because of him he wasn’t here. He mentally berated himself for being such a wuss and not facing his own issues.

He was about to haul himself in his room when the front parlour’s fireplace roared and his tow favourite twins of terrors entered with Blaise in their tow.

His mood instantly brightened up and fell as well when Blaise informed it was arranged by Draco for Harry; he had lucked out when it came to having a caring mate; Draco was going out of his way to make him happy. Harry spent next few hours with Ivy and Iris learning all about their escapades in muggle London with their grandparents.

It was almost five in the evening when Blaise came and said to get ready for Christmas eve dinner. He left to his room and found there were clothes laid down for him, black trousers with white shirt which had engravings on it’s lining and wizarding robes in deep burgundy with golden hem and embroidery. He quickly got ready and reached and flooed to Malfoy manor with others, when he entered the dining hall, he saw it was filled with people. Uncle Ted, Aunt Andy with cousin Dora, Narcissa and Lucius were chatting with some couple who were same aged as them, Blaise’s mother Zaira was there chatting with Sirius and Remus, Ivy and Iris were busy with Daphne and Astoria while Blaise and Neville were chatting with Neville’s gran and another man who was almost sixty years old with Prof Snape.

But the only person his eyes were looking for didn’t seem to be there, he sighed and resigned himself for the torture that was this dinner. When suddenly doors of dining room opened behind him, he turned to look and what he saw made his heart flutter, there stood the bane of his existence. Draco was wearing robes in silver and navy blue with grey accents. His blond hair was open and flowing beautifully around his face, but he looked exhausted. Even when he was wearing the best clothes and was standing proudly as ever; his entire body was shaking minutely, no one would notice that except Harry, so he ran forward and gathered his mate in his arms, an action which caught everyone’s attention to them.

Draco sighs and melts into Harry’s arms, finally four days of exhaustion catching up to him. He should have taken some time off to rest, but once they got back to manor; he needed to modify and make another counter potion for the twins. It took him at least six hours, he hadn’t eaten properly since yesterday and on top of that; he had burned through his energy, now finally his body was on verge of shutting down; but he couldn’t ruin his gift to Harry by fainting. He slowly untangles himself from Harry’s arm, reached for a vial of pepper up potion and swallowed it down.

Harry starts complaining instantly, “How could you, you absolute imbecile, who does this kind of things on holidays’, you could have waited until the Christmas was over to go on such trips, and you went without even telling me, no notes or message, you didn’t even contact me on those damnble mirrors of yours, you pompous git. I swear to merlin…” his voice cracked at the end. Draco took Harry’s face in between his palms and said, “Shush, I am fine, it was just exhaustion catching up. And I had to go Harry, I promised you I will take care of it and I did. Now, are you ready for your Christmas present?”

Harry meekly nods, Draco begins, “Can I have everyone’s attention please?”

They all took their chosen seats around the seating area and Draco took Harry by his hand and stood in the middle of the hall.

“We will start will the family members you know, we have our elder sister Dora, who will save us from when we get into trouble, than you have your elder brother Neville, and then there is Blaise whom we don’t consider anything so ignore him,” Blaise gave him a scathing look and said, “We will see about that.” They all laughed at their verbal spats.

Draco continued, “Than you have your godfather and his consort, Neville’s gran who I am pretty sure going to become everyone’s gran by the end of the year. Then you have uncle Ted and Aunt Andromeda, your guardian’s angels, then there are my parents, who will someday become your in laws hopefully. Then there is Zaira, the hot aunt that everyone seems to be jealous of and my grumpy godfather Severus whom who we love to hate.” Zaira gave him a wink, the room filled with laughter.

“These are all the family members that you already know, now to those you don’t; you remember what your mum said in his journal, you still have family. When I took your blood and used it in a hereditary potion, I discovered the family that you belonged, that is Greengrass family.”

He led Harry to the older looking man and said, “here, let me introduce you to your grandfather, Harry this is your grandfather Tilbert Greengrass and Mr. Greengrass this is the star born from your little moon. Your daughter had a loving life in wizarding world, Lily Evans was the daughter you lost.”

Everyone fell silent hearing those words, Tilbert raised his shaking hand and placed it on Harry’s cheek, “I have a grandson.” His eyes were brimming with tears, at the same time harry said, “I have a grandfather.”

They both hugged each other with reverence, everyone was still processing what was being discovered today. Draco said, “Correction, you have grandchildren.”

Harry and Tilbert with rest of the members were looking incredulously at Draco, like he had grown another head, they all knew Lily had only one child. So, Draco continued his explanation, “Well, Harry you remembered your mother’s entry; she had transferred her pregnancy to a muggle woman before going into hiding, what you don’t know is that they survived and are here with you in this room.” Draco went to Ivy and Iris and pulled two vials of potions from his robes and gave them, “Drink this, if I am correct it would reveal your true parentage.” Ivy and Iris stared at him impassively and then drank the potion in one swallow.

In a minute, the effect of potion started emerging, both Ivy and Iris’s appearance were changed drastically. Ivy’s complexion which was pale white turned into golden olive and her brown hair turned almost black brown, her facial features were similar to Lily’s and her eyes were blue, whereas Iris turned into exact carbon copy of Lily, her eyes were exact shade of bright green, hair turned into fiery red and his complexion turned golden olive.

Draco led them towards Harry and Tilbert, “Meet your sisters and granddaughters, Ivy and Iris Potter.”

There was pin dropped silence in entire hall. Harry lunged forwards and hugged both Ivy and Iris, they both hugged him with just same enthusiasm if not more. Then Tilbert hugged them and kissed their forehead’s.

Draco continued his speech, “And now your other family members, you remember Harry, your mother said she met someone who was her cousin, well let me introduce you to your uncle, this is Lord Albert Greengrass your mother’s cousin and this is Lady Aurora Greengrass your aunt, and here are Daphne and Astoria, your cousins twice removed if I remembered correctly. So, this is your entire family.”

They sat down and demanded in depth explanation from him, since no one could understand how he discovered everything.

Draco explained his reasoning, “Well, Harry had discovered that he might have siblings through his mother’s journal but she gave him the warning that she had blocked both parentage and forgot to alter the potion which would have given the foetus magical stability, so there was a slight chance that they might not have survived the initial stage of pregnancy, a thought which made Harry restless and he started losing his sleep over it, so once we were back home I decided to confront him, he explained everything and I told him I would take care of it, I went back to manor and brewed the counter potion to reveal the lineage. I gave him that potion and took some blood from him and used in hereditary potion which revealed that his mother Lily was daughter of Tilbert Greengrass and Helena Pendragon. After which I flooed to Greengrass’s to gather some information about Harry’s grandfather, where I learned that he went back to where he met his wife, so me and Sev went on the fielding trip, it took us better part of three days to find him, we came back with him, once back I brewed another counter potion for twins since their lineage was blocked completely. And here we are.”

Tilbert asked, “But, how did you figure out that they were Harry’s siblings, I mean it could have been anyone lad.”

Draco smiled and said, “Yes, it could have been anyone but when you think logically it all fits, first Lily was pregnant when Harry was one and half year old which meant his siblings would be two years younger than him. Plus, you have to consider family traits as well, we all know that in Greengrass family every female child is twins, see Harry, your mum had a twin rest her soul, Daphne and Astoria are twins and Ivy and Iris are twins as well. Also, something you said and your mum said stood out to me. Remember when you first met them you have said you feel it in your bones that they are important to you somehow and your mum said same thing. It was mostly a well-educated guess to be honest.”

Everyone was shellshocked with his explanation, this thirteen-year-old kid went out of his way to make sure Harry didn’t torture himself with anxiety. Draco took Harry in his arms and said reverently, “I know, you are afraid to be alone, you will never admit to anyone but there is one thing you have always wanted and that is family, you always wanted to be where you belonged and felt at home. Look around Harry, you are not alone not anymore, you are no longer an orphan; you have your own family, I hope you like my Christmas present; from this moment forward you will never be alone or lonely in your life. Even if no one is there with you, I will always be there for you. Merry Christmas Harry.” Then Draco gave him a sweet kiss on his forehead.

Harry buried his face in Draco’s chest and cried, he cried for all the lost time, he cried for spending years alone in a cupboard, he cried for his mate’s thoughtful gesture, he cried and cried, he couldn’t believe his luck, he had one of the most caring and thoughtful mate. He only hoped that he could be what Draco needed in the future.

Everyone was in awe of the teen standing in front of them, Tilbert thought, ‘I couldn’t have found better life partner for my grandson, he has gone above and beyond for him, Thank you Lady Hecate. For blessing my grandbaby.’

Narcissa was looking at his son and seeing a mate who would burn the grounds and swallow the oceans just to keep him happy, whoever tried to come between them now, was in for a hell of a surprise, for the first time in her life she was proud that Draco had done something that made them anxious yet so happy, she couldn’t even put it into words.

Ivy was grinning madly at his brother, she had always thought that Harry was her brother but to know that it is actually true, well magic can be a bitch sometimes, she wished she could have spent these past years with him, he was so caring and gently with them. Always taking care of them, no matter; now that she knows the truth, she will never let anyone come between them.

Today was Iris’s luckiest day, she had never thought that her wish would come true in such a manner, she had wished to Santa to make Harry her official brother, which Draco made it happen. He was the angel in guardian for them. and Harry seemed so happy with Draco, the way he smiled at him and looked at him. Anyone could see her fool of a brother had fallen hard for the blond, well who wouldn’t; when Draco was being the best boyfriend ever. Well she didn’t know if they were dating or not, but the question stands still the same.

Blaise had to give to Draco, he had sat up higher standards for his mate, he sighs internally and prayed to merlin that Neville didn’t expect that kind of devotion from him, he couldn’t go on hike even if his life depended on it. Damn that pompous git for always making over the top and grand gesture, but despite that what he had done was beyond helpful, it showed Draco’s commitment towards Harry’s wellbeing. He was happy for both of them, wished he could do something for his mate as well.

Neville was beyond ecstatic for Harry, he knew how much it hurt his brother to be alone specially on festivals and holidays, Draco had done so much for him in last four days, that no one could question his intention towards Harry anymore. His littler brother had found someone who understood him as well as completes him. He saw the same look of appreciation on Blaise’s face. Well they would get there on their own time. No need to rush.

Severus heart was in his mouth, Iris was looking exactly like Lily, his sister that he lost with his won foolishness, but seeing his godson declaring his devotion was the highlight of his day. His standoffish and childish godson had turned into thoughtful and caring mate. Harry was quite lucky indeed.

Remus smiled at his cub’s happiness, oh how much he wanted to be there for him before, but he had failed him in that regard; but he wouldn’t repeat that mistake again, he would look after all three of them. Ivy and Iris were his charge now, he would never let anyone hurt his cubs. Not anymore.

Sirius was grinning madly at his pup, damn the blonde for being so considerate; he couldn’t even pull his leg anymore. But damn if Prongs and Lils were here they would be proud of the choice Harry had made. He had to accept the truth though, and the truth was no one was better suited for Harry than the blonde git. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t harass them, “Oi, Blondie, you go ahead and give these wonderful gifts to my pup, how are we supposed to top that? Huh you have sat us all up for complete failure, you show off.”

Entire hall filled with laughter at that, Harry looks up from Draco’s chest and said, “Thank you, for being you; I don’t know if you remember this but when I entered the wizarding world; you were the first person I met who was of my age. Since then I have always been aware of your presence, even when we weren’t getting along I was always aware of you. But when I couldn’t find you for last three days, my mind went to think the worst scenarios in my head. I don’t care if you are doing it for me or for anyone else, promise me that you will always see me before you go anywhere. I couldn’t ever handle if I lost you. Draco, I cannot lose you.”

Draco nodded and gave him a reassuring smile and said, “I promise, you should know by now that I will promise anything to you Harry.”

Everyone was in awe with their devotion to each other. They all sat down to eat the dinner they were here for, conversation flowed naturally throughout the dining hall. Finally Harry sat beside Draco and looked around felt at peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have made several changes from the original storylines, this story is now completely different from the canon. Two more chapters and we will reach the end of third year. Hope you enjoyed this story so far, please send feedback in comment section below. XOXO


	14. Author's Note

Hello everyone

I just wanted to inform you that I haven't abandoned this story, I am currently finishing my PhD thesis which I have to submit in next two month,which is why I have taken a break from writing this story. I have two chapters already lined up for this story which needs a little bit editing. Once I am done with my studies, I will continue this story as I have planned. I hope you guys will be patient with my delayed updates. 

Thank you all for your positive feedback. 

I will delete this note when I upload the next chapter, which hopefully will be soon. 


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